The Yarn Girls' Blog

Many fall favorites are back in stock!!!

2010-07-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

Finally our fall yarns are beginning to arrive. The shelves are beginning to fill up and my fingers are beginning to itch. I need to decide what to make. I am looking at the beautiful wall of Zara and I want to make the moderne baby blanket from the first Mason Dixon knitting book for my friends that are expecting their first baby in September...BUT they aren't finding out the sex of the baby and that makes it so difficult to choose colors. I also want to make Zoe some things from the MilaMia books but there are so many great items to chose from that I cannot make a decision. I am almost done with the front of Jeff's aran cashmere cabled sweater. I still have both sleeves to go. I thought I might have it done for his 45th birthday, which was yesterday, but no such luck. Maybe for Channukah. It is the never ending project. I also just made Zoe the creative focus silk cardigan in black that I need to sew together. I told her I made her a black sweater and she looked at me like I had 4 heads. I told her black was stylish - I don't think she was buying it. But it is. Also we have been very busy trying to get our web store up and running. Hopefully we will be able to take orders for all our beautiful yarns, needles, accessories and books over the internet by mid September. It's a lot of work getting it all set up - but I think in the end it will be worth it. Lastly - just a quick list of yarns we now have in stock: Filatura Zara and Zara Plus, Sirdar Baby Bamboo, Koigu Kpppm, K1C2 Brae Tweed, Ela Rae Lace Merino, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and Cashmerino Aran and Prism Saki. And Finally we got a beautiful new yarn by Filatura di Crosa - Nirvana it is a lace weight merino that is superwash - and can be used for lace or stranded to knit things on a bigger needle.

HOT SUMMER IN THE CITY

2010-07-06T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wow is it HOT outside!! But inside at The Yarn Co we have been checking in some great fall yarns! Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino is back this year - you can make some of the great kids projects from the fantastic MillaMia Books with this yarn. The books have the most adorable patterns for babies and children! The coat on the cover here is amazing and there are adorable sweaters, dresses, scarves and hats too. Come in and check the books out and get started on a project for your little one. We also got some great colors of Ella Rae Lace Merino. I've made Zoe two of these skirts, they are fun and easy to make and the yarn is great to knit. Lace Merino Skirt We also got some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, beautiful colors of K1C2 Brae Tweed and I can't forget Sirdar, Baby Bamboo. Check out some of the great projects you can start with these yarns! Baby Bamboo Rainbow Blanket Brae Tweed Jacket Cashmerino Baby Blanket

Live From Columbus, Ohio....

2010-06-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

We are in lovely Columbus, Ohio. We just decided on 23 beautiful colors of Koigu, kpppm. We've also bought some great new yarn. A super chunky yarn called Big Stitch Bumps that is a soft alpaca and knits on a number 50 needle - no kidding! One skein retails for $120 but makes an awesome vest or a rug. We also bought some great new scarf kits from Jade Sapphire - they are called Quattro Kits and come with 4 different colors of cashmere and patterns to make scarves with the four colors. We bought a great merino/cashmere blend yarn from Muench that knits at 3 stitches to the inch and is sure to be a huge hit this fall. And a new yarn from Blue Sky Alpaca called Brushed Suri and is so soft and light - it makes an amazing sweater. We also got new colors in the beaded mohair and single ply cashmere by ArtYarns. And if you are ever in Columbus, be sure to visit Jenni's ice cream... it is delicious.

HUGE BOOK SALE

2010-05-05T18:48:00.000-07:00

We are having a HUGE BOOK SALE during the month of May. 40% OFF all books and magazines in stock. If you are on ravelry and would like to see a list of titles available go to http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/the-yarn-co-nyc/1126096/1-25. Or email theyarnco@verizon.net and we can send you a list of available titles. We are happy to ship - via fed ex ground or media mail. ALSO We now have a FACEBOOK PAGE. We had a group - but realize that it is easier to keep in touch via a PAGE - we will be updating it frequently. Find us on Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-NY/The-Yarn-Co/95344656072?ref=ts - Click that you LIKE us to join and get updates via the PAGE.

Technology Anyone?

2010-04-07T11:38:00.000-07:00

Just added to our Ravelry store: Big News! Julie and I have made a momentous decision. The Yarn Co. is going to enter the age of technology. Yes, we have a website...but no shopping cart. Yes, many balls of yarn have bar codes on them...but we have no computerized inventory system. Yes, we have a blog, are on Facebook and have a presence on Ravelry...but we still hand write our reciepts! We are on the verge of purchasing a point of sale system that will hopefully revolutionize he way things are done here. We will have an integrated website with a shopping cart, we will have customer info at our fingertips...(you love zara? - we will let you know when a big new shipment comes in...) and we will be able to keep track of credits, gift certificates and oh so much more. We are hoping to have all this up and running by August. Start the fall season in style. Exciting, no? On another note: I made Zoe model this weekend and am going to try to put the skirt and a zara cardigan I made in the fall on Ravelry. Check her out:

Knitting in the news

2010-04-01T10:02:00.000-07:00

I just finished knitting Zoe's skirt out of the beautiful Ella Rae, Lace Merino. It is sooo cute. And I love the lace detail at the bottom. It was very easy -- only a two row repeat. Zoe is supposed to come in for a modelling session tomorrow, so hopefully I will get some nice shots of her in it. Now I am knitting an adorable dress as a store sample out of the Katia, Tobago. I started out making a garter stitch sweater but wasn't loving it, so I said "hey, I think I'll turn it into a dress" - and voila. I am very happy with it and I think I may need to make one in a bigger size for Zoe--although she really really does not need another piece of clothing. I really need some more time to knit - I also want to make myself something out of the Arucania, Chaiten. The colors are amazing (I love earthy colors) and I think it is my new favorite summer yarn. It is 100% silk and so light. I am wearing the one we made as our store sample all the time. I think I might make our Seduce tank top out of it...we'll see. On another note - there has been some fun/funny stuff in the news lately (Wall Street Journal and CBS News --not bad). Take a look: Check out the CBS News piece! And hey - Truckers are knitting!

And the blanket went for....

2010-03-23T12:20:00.000-07:00

Max's school auction has come and gone once again. It was this past Saturday night and was lots of fun. The school raised a ton of money. Our beautiful blanket - which you can see below - went for a staggering $800!!! I was so excited - our project raised the most of any class project. (All the kids knit a square for the blanket and I sewed them together and crocheted around - to make an awesome 40x60 blanket). Bill Telepan once again put his services up for auction - dinner for 8 cooked by him at your house - including wine - he offered it up 3 times - and each one went for $12,000. Truly unbelievable. We ended up going home with some wine, a big Simpsons basket for our downstairs friend, and I won the raffle for lunch with Max's teacher (the second year in a row - is it rigged or am i just really lucky?) - oh - and I got a package that included a Bliss gift certificate a private yoga lesson and some antiaging cream. When I went to pick up my items they told me they couldn't find the antiaging cream and I though - no big deal - but when I went home I saw that its value was $158. I want my cream! I need to try a cream that costs that much money - maybe if I apply it religiously I will look like I did in high school again...I need to remember to see if they worked on locating this cream that must certainly have magical properties! On the knitting front - I am trying to finish up a new skirt for Zoe - it has a cute lace bottom and is made out of Arucania, Lace Merino. I've already bought her several tee shirts to go with it. I also just finished a great sweater out of the S. Charles, Sari. What next? There are so many possibilities - I just can't decide.

PHOTO BLOG

2010-03-18T13:09:00.001-07:00

Never any time to sit and write - too busy knitting... lots of great new projects. Take a look. Right below is the auction project my 2nd graders made - each kid knit a square...it better go for a lot of money!!!

WHAT'S NEW...

2010-01-28T10:23:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy here at The Yarn Co. We've been ordering lots of new and exciting spring yarns - which will begin arriving in February. We actually already got one of the new yarns - Tahki, Mia - which is a great nubby cotton that gets 3 stitches to the inch and is super soft. We are knitting a cute raglan pullover with it. We also just knit a great new baby blanket out of the Sirdar, Baby Bamboo. It is a 5x5 rib using the yarn held double and striping it in the colors of the rainbow. It came out really great. We substituted pink for blue in the rainbow (we do know it's roygbiv, not roygpiv!) because we didn't have a good blue - but it works. Julie also knit a GREAT jacket out of the Wooly Merino yarn - the yarn is soft and fabulous to knit with and the jacket looks great on - I think I need to make one for Zoe for next fall. I finished Max's sweater out of the cashmere I pulled out of an old sweater. I did a 5x5 rib and it looks good on him. One of these days I really need to make him model his sweaters! I picked up Jeff's cabled Aran Cashmere sweater again and finished knitting the back. All those cables are slow going at this point in my life - but maybe I'll really finish it for his 45th birthday in July...or his 46th...I also want to make Zoe a skirt for the spring out of the Lace Merino. I think I will make it A-line with a lace pattern at the bottom and stockinette the rest of the way. So much to knit, so little time! Also - if you have any pictures of items you made from here that you'd like to share - email them to us at yarnco@verizon.net! it's always fun to see things people have made. Check out the great stuffed animal by Sam: And the adorable torino polka dot blankets by Karen: Also, as an aside...Leslie, who works at The Yarn Co. is making a sweater out of an old Bottega Cashmere and needs another ball or two - anyone knit with this and willing to part with their leftovers?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2010-01-09T06:39:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! I cannot believe it is 2010! I am happy to have the holiday's behind me though - December is such a hectic month, between Channukah, Max's birthday, holiday parties, school functions and the store at it's busiest. Now that it is January I am hoping things will calm down a little. Although, I read this article in the NY Times recently that talked about how we are a nation of people who put off pleasure because we always think that we will be less busy in the future and will have more time to go spend that gift certificate or use those miles...but it never happens that way. We are always just as busy, life never really slows down. After reading the article I decided to try to do many things that i have been putting off and to do as many things that I enjoy as possible. So, I got industrious and CLEANED my disgusting bedroom. We had papers, clothes and everything under the sun all over the place. You could not see our desk, either of the chairs in our room,the mantel over the fireplace...it's been that way for 5 years or so. I became a machine. I filed, I folded, I threw out garbage bags full of stuff...And I now live in a beautiful room! When Jeff comes home from work and tries to put his tie on a chair I swoop in and say "you are not going to put that THERE are you???" I then moved onto Max's room and to the living room and organized all the toys (I even organized the lego into similar sized pieces). It was very fulfilling! Next, I ripped out a cashmere sweater that I had made years ago. It was heavily cabled and very wide and short - basically unwearable. So I am now making a sweater for max out of it and I think I will be able to make one for myself too. I also knit Zoe a new hat to go with her new jacket, lengthened the cute shrug I'd made her over the summer and organized all of my yarn and needles. I also made my friend who just had a baby a blanket and went downtown to Purl fabric to get a backing for it. (I still have to sew it together). I finished reading John Irving's new book - Last Night in Twisted River - which I LOVED. If you like John Irving (he is my all time favorite author) - it is classic John Irving at his best - although it took a little to get into it. And I have watched a bunch of movies - and added to my queue all of the movies that are out now that I know I won't get to and will forget about later--making use of my netflix account that usually sits dormant. I also baked Max a cake for his birthday and cupcakes for school. And then we had a dinner party for New Year'eve for which I cooked up a storm, hosting three other couples and their kids, two of whom slept over. After all that, I was exhausted for 3 or 4 days. Then I had to go back to work and had lots of back office stuff to do, had to send all the Prism yarns back, and we did an inventory of ALL of our yarn. The benefit of that is the store looks terrific now. It is organized and neat. There are also lots of new Sale yarns in the back room --some excellent deals. Come in and check it out. Well, my burst of blogging energy is running out--I have to go and make some baseball cookies for Max's birthday party tomorrow. Maybe after tomorrow things will slow down and I will have more time - or maybe I'll have nothing left to do...ha ha ha.

The holidays are almost here!

2009-12-09T11:17:00.000-08:00

A great holiday scarf out of Berocco Lanalux The holidays are fast approaching, it is supposed to be a high of 30 degrees on Friday and what were Julie and I doing this morning?...buying yarn for spring! It always feels so incongruous to look at silks, linens, cottons and rayons in the frigid weather when all you want is a nice thick wool or cashmere to knit up a scarf or hat that will keep you super warm. Nonetheless, we got some very nice stuff! We saw Stacy and Diane of TahkiStacyCharles. They had a more modern, hip new look with many of their pattern books and a few yarns that were really exciting. From their StacyCharles line they had two great yarns - the first SARI is a 100% raw silk that knits up on a large needle and comes in earthy colors. The next, SAHARA is a viscose, linen and bamboo blend that is a ribbon. They had a great sweater done in it that had these drop stitches and looked adorable on. The sweater had a great light feel and wonderful drape. they are sending it to us in a fantastic orange color in January. From their Tahki line we are getting a very cool, nubby thick and super soft cotton called MIA. It is a great transitional yarn that I think will make a great quick sweater! We are also getting a yarn called REPLAY. It is made out of 100% recycled cotton - a nice concept - and comes in great heathered colors. I really liked it because you don't usually see cottons in heather colors. We are also getting some great new colors in cotton classic - and of course millefili fine will return. Stacy and Diane were also excited to see pictures of my 2nd graders knitting with the yarn they donated. And they loved our patterns using their yarns on our Ravelry pattern store! Finally....as I said the holidays are fast approaching...I cannot believe Chanukah starts on Friday night (until moments ago I thought it was saturday night...) - luckily I am very prepared this year - I have everything wrapped and ready and torturing my children as all those wrapped presents are in a corner of my bedroom in plain sight. Every morning at 6:30am when Zoe wakes up - she comes in and demands that she be allowed to open a present NOW!!! We have to tickle her a lot until she forgets. Max has been really good about it though - he saw them - said I bet the ones in the soccer/baseball/football wrapping paper are mine. I said yep. and that was it. Is that a sign of maturity or that he is already bored with channukah? I hope the first because I got him some good stuff - if you are a 7 year old boy who loves Well - if you are not as prepared as I am this year - always remember - you can knit a quick scarf or hat in no time, or we do gift certificates! Also - for those celebrating Christmas who have a little more time - we have great stocking stuffer ideas and lots more! Come in and check it out!!!

PRISM TRUNK SHOW

2009-12-02T10:04:00.000-08:00

The beautiful and inspiring Prism Trunk Show is here at the Yarn Company for the entire month of December! They have really outdone themselves this year and sent us a dazzling array of beautiful fibers and hand-dyed colors. It is always so much fun unpacking it and the yarns always give the store a wonderful holiday feel. I took some pictures of some of the yarns they sent. And to answer the question that often comes after I make an announcement like this..."What is a TRUNK SHOW??" A TRUNK SHOW is when a company sends me lots and lots of beautiful yarn on consignment. Basically, I could never afford to carry all these beautiful hand-dyed yarns in these luxurious fibers in the quantity that we currently have in stock - but the beauty of the TRUNK SHOW is that I only pay for what I sell and send the rest back at the end of the month! It is a win win situation for everybody! So be sure to come in and check it out - the yarns are truly exquisite!

Second Graders Master Knitting

2009-11-12T09:28:00.000-08:00

I have just come from Max's class - and am happy to report that I have 26 new knitters! After our fourth week of knitting in school - the entire class has grasped this new skill. It is great, everyone is very excited and I feel very satisfied. It is different from teaching knitting last year in Max's first grade class...first, the difference in motor skills is huge. I was surprised at how much easier the 2nd graders picked it up than the first graders. Also, this year instead of just a handful of kids knitting- the entire class is doing it. That's a lot of mistakes to fix, rows to help turn and balls up in the air. Luckily I have a helper this year. Nicole who is a customer at the store and the babysitter of one of the boys in the class and an excellent knitter - comes in and helps out too. Some of the kids have already completed a handwarmer, others are working on scarves and a few are working on a bag. Take a look:

And America's Next Top Model Is........ZOE!!!!

2009-09-29T14:06:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I ever think things are going to clam down and I'll have time to sit and knit, read, blog etc. I must live in a little fantasy world. Needless to say, things have been hectic in life lately with the start of school - getting two kids out the door every morning (clothed, fed and teeth brushed) is a challenge for me. I know some people seem to do it with ease - but I am not one of those people - I think my head spins and my voice hits octaves I never knew it could- as I scream: "EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!!!! STOP SPITTING YOUR EGG OUT ON THE FLOOR!!! ARE YOU TWO YEARS OLD??? WHY CAN'T YOU SEEM TO GET YOUR OWN SOCKS ON???!!! GET OFF THE $#*!! TOILET WE HAVE TO LEAVE NOW!!!!" I am sure you are wishing you were at my house at 8am on weekdays. Anyway, that coupled with the fact that my husband made me cut my nanny's hours - so that the free time I once had is cut in half....and the curriculum meetings, class picnics, class potluck dinners, leaf hunts, holidays, etc. - I don't feel as if things have calmed down. But - that being said...I have been busy putting patterns onto our Ravelry store that people can download. I must have 15 or 16 up. It is very exciting. I have put mostly adult patterns, hats and scarves and blankets on because I did not have a little model. But last Thursday that all changed. Zoe (my daughter) came to the store for a visit before we had to go to her school picnic (for which I brought no food) - and she modeled a bunch of kids sweaters for us. It was a huge success! She was a great little model - and had a ton of fun doing it! So, hopefully I will get some of these great kid's patterns up for sale soon. I have also been busy trying to come up with a few cool, easy designs to submit to the magazine Knitscene. Over the weekend I knit a very hippyish handbag out of Punta Yarns, Flame. I knit it in garter stitch and sewed it so the ridges went vertical and then made a handle by casting on lengthwise - so that would have vertical lines too. And put some fringe on the ends. I like it. Will post a picture of it soon. And here at the store, things are moving along. We have almost all our new yarns for the season. Will write more soon....

Back from the Beach

2009-09-10T12:08:00.000-07:00

Zoe turns 3!! Miss Zoe at a bon fire on the beach Max Boogie Boarding I cannot believe summer is over! I am officially sad. We had such a nice family vacation - even with our two crazy kids - I am just so not ready to be back in the real world...to make lunch, get kids places on time, to tell Max "no, you cannot play your PSP baseball game 8 hours a day" and Zoe -"No, we cannot watch High School Musical for the 999th time!" and to come to work! I got back on Monday after two and a half weeks away - and on Tuesday I just could not bring myself to come back to work (so since I am the boss - i didn't - although I did come in and get work to do at home.) But yesterday I had to reenter society as a productive human being. I brought both my kids to school and came to work. I have to say - that as far as a place that one has to go back to work to - a yarn store fully stocked with fabulous fall yarns isn't the worst way to go. The store really looked amazing. Almost all our yarns are in - and it is so colorful and textural - it's great. All the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran is here in a beautiful array of colors. The Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK is to die for and Sirdar has outdone themselves with their colors in Baby Bamboo! We got this luscious yarn by Filatura di Crosa - Karma - it is angora and merino - so soft! And Mercedes already knit up a great sample cardigan out of it. I am sure I will live in it this fall. We also got a Teva Durham yarn, Granite - and I am almost done with a super Cowlneck sweater. In her book for Tahki/Stacy Charles - she has a great cabled cardigan out of the Granite. It is soft and super chunky. What else? Oh yes, Rowan came - the books are outstanding - a million things to make! And we got a beautiful new Rowan yarn called Lima - and old favorites - Cocoon and Felted Tweed. From Nashua - we got Vignette and Grand Opera and we are now carrying Twinkle Chunky! I know I missed tons but check out our website - we are adding yarns as fast as we can.

MEET VERONIQUE

2009-08-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

I have been very busy the last week and a half! I have added 14 yarn girls' designs to our Ravelry Store. These patterns are available to download for a fee (between $3.00 and $5.00) if you are on Ravelry - check it out and tell your friends to check it out. If you are not on Ravelry yet - get on it. It is a great resource for finding patterns to knit! I found it very overwhelming at first - but now I really think it is a great place to get exciting ideas. I have lot's more patterns to add and will add all the new items we design with the new yarns that come in. Last week, we got the mannequin that we ordered - her name is Veronique and aside from being rather broad shouldered, she is quite hot! So, we packed her and a bunch of sweaters up and headed to Riverside park for a photoshoot! You should have seen the wacky looks we got - toting this 6 foot bald lady around - prone - across our shopping cart. and on the way back - we separated her torso from her legs and stuffed her in the cart - people were stopping us on the street left and right - everybody had a comment! It was fun though - and the pictures look good. She wears our sweaters well. Getting Veronique ready for the photoshoot: Veronique in our Koigu/Superior wrap: And in the Alpalite cabled sweater: I have also been knitting up a storm. I knit 5 bracelets out of this great Lopi wool we got by Imperial Stock Ranch. Check out their website - they are a new company that we are doing business with this fall and I think they have a really interesting story. also we will be getting some roving from them later in the season that you can make some really cool scarves with - I am very excited. I am going to felt the bracelets next week and then we are going top make up kits - with different colors - to make 5 bracelets and you'll get the bag and the pattern. The yarn comes in awesome colors and is supposed to felt magnificently! I am also knitting up a sample in a new Teva Durham yarn - Granite that we are expecting shortly. And I worked on my Zara jacket for Zoe. Things have also been busy at home - we are redoing the kids' rooms since Zoe is going to go into a big girl bed when we get back from vacation. But I couldn't do things in a simple way - I decided that Max needed a new bed because his room is so small. I found this great bed at walmart that is a low loft bed - and has a desk, drawers, bookcase and mini closet built into it. Jeff drove out to Walmart the other night to pick it up (it came in 3 150lb boxes...we live in a 4th floor walk up...) - and last night we were up until 1:30 am putting it together. Actually - Jeff was putting it together - I just was there for the moral support and to hand him the proper screws. But it is done and Max can sleep on it tonight! Then on Thursday night we went out to Ikea to get Zoe a new dresser and bookcases - she is taking Max's old bed - we had it painted white. It was a very long nite at Ikea deciding what bookcases were right etc. We came home with 4 extremely heavy boxes. Jeff is obsessed and wants to put that stuff together tonight. We kind of need to at least do the dresser because all of Zoe's clothes are all over my bed because I gave Julie her dresser and the double bed that was in Zoe's room (as I write this Julie is now moving to New Jersey!). I am here for another week and then VACATION! I can't wait! Hopefully I'll blog once more before I leave and give an update on the new yarns that we've gotten!

New Fall Yarns & Ravelry Downloads

2009-08-05T10:21:00.000-07:00

It is hot out there!! But that doesn't stop beautiful new wools from coming through the door on a daily basis. I have spent the past two weeks unpacking boxes and stocking shelves. The store is beginning to fill up and look enticing. We have gotten all of our fall Zara colors in. That's thirty-five scrumptious solid colors with which you can make baby blankets, adult throws (the zara garter stitch throw has been flying out of here), pillows, sweaters, skirts, hats and scarves! Zara is my absolute all time favorite and I think that this year it came in even softer than ever. It also washes wonderfully. I am currently working on a sweater jacket for Zoe - I am copying a sweater that I saw on the tv show Charlie & Lola. It has a charcoal bottom, small black line, and the rest is in dark brown. Then the front has srtiped pockets that are bright orange, pink and red. It's going to be adorable. We also got in Zara Chine - a tweedy zara that comes in fabulous color combinations; Zarina Print - a wonderful multi colored yarn that is slightly thinner than Zara; and Zarina Tweed - which has little flecks and looks very baby - perfect for baby sweaters and blankets. Zarina Print and Zarina Tweed: We received Koigu - half of our multis and most of our solids. People are having a ball picking out colors for the Koigu Wrap - it takes 7 colors, one ball of each. We received Punta del Este, Merisoft. It is a beautiful hand-dyed yarn that knits on a number 9 needle. It is super soft and the colors are to die for! We received Zara Plus in great colors. Here are some of the new ones: And Torino Bulky in a full range of colors. Start picking your colors for the Torino Dot Blanket now. Finally, we received Maxime Print for those of you who want to make a quick pair of socks. And quite a few colors of Karabella, Super Yak. And for those of you on Ravelry - we have begun to set up shop! We now have 5 of our favorite patterns available to download for a small fee. If you search Yarn Girls" they should come up. We have lots more on the way - just have to take pictures, and size patterns - so they will go up slowly but surely! Tell everyone you know to check it out. Foe those of you not on Ravelry yet - join - it's fun and then join our group The Yarn Co. And if not, we are still planning on putting up a Yarn Girls website with new designs available to download for a fee. Happy Knitting until next time!

Fall yarns are coming

2009-07-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a while once again. Sometimes life just spins out of control and before you know it - 5 weeks have gone by. Crazy. First, there was all the end of school stuff to deal with. Picnics, publishing parties, a dance festival and more that I have blocked out of my memory I am sure. Then school finally ended and Camp began - and Jeff has had me on a whirlwind schedule of mooching off people who have summer homes, having barbeques and just making me so tired that I can barely think. And then for the first two weeks of July, Julie and I gave our whole staff off. It was like when we first opened - the two of us here, everyday - all day. Actually when we first started - we had Petra - for these two weeks we did not even have her. Petra was definitely missed - but we did survive and the store was neat and in tact when she returned. (She was a little surprised). Now, things are getting back to normal- so I finally feel that I have a few minutes to sit and write - plus its raining out and I guess everybody is hiding out at home instead of coming to the yarn co... We have gotten in some fun accessories recently. First, THE CIRCULAR SOLUTION. It is a handy storage solution for all your circular needles and it hangs anywhere! Only $22! A longtime customer of ours wrote her endorsement for the product:

The Circular Solution changed my knitting life!! After 10 years of trying various circular needle holders, I had given up and resorted to a Yarn Company shopping bag crammed with 80 needles of various sizes and lengths – I never knew what needle I had for a given project, so often bought duplicates. A friend suggested this product – I bought one that day, went home and organized my needles. Now there are no more kinks in the needles and a quick glance tells me exactly which needles I have. Ah, order has returned!! I whole heartedly endorse this product (and am not a paid spokesperson!!)

We also got THE KNIT KIT. It is a small plastic oval (that looks sort of like a diaphragm case - as everyone who sees it on the counter seems to point out) - but - looks aside - it is great - the kit includes a tape measure, stitch counter, thread cutter, scissors (TSA approved), a crochet hook, stitch markers and point protectors. It is a great item to have when traveling! I keep forgetting to take one and keep wishing I had one with me! It comes in black or white and is only $20! Hopefully,I will once again become a consistent poster- especially since fall yarns are beginning to arrive. We got our Zara shipment and have lots of beautiful colors in stock. We also got unbelievable chenille and multi chenille colors. Now would be a great time to make a baby blanket! I love getting fall yarns in, it makes my fingers itch and want to knit everything in sight. Right now I am knitting a reversible cable scarf with an amazing new cashmere by Jade Sapphire that we will be getting. Enough writing about knitting - I think I will actually go knit now that I have some free time on my hands!

THE YARN CO SALE HAS BEGUN!

2009-06-11T12:35:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Things have been very hectic around here with year end school activities, the sale and various other activities. Just want to remind everyone that the sale is still going on until June 30! While the yarn is moving - we do still have lots of yarn to be had at great bargain prices! My new favorite yarn is Linen Jeans - I just swatched it up yesterday on a #9 needle and I am hoping to make a loosely knit cardigan out of it - it has great drape and will be the perfect weight for cool summer evenings. I am almost done with Zoe's Ulmo skirt - and I've had a piece of it on the table and the Ulmo has been flying off the shelves. Finally - I have to show you Zoe wearing her Sublime Organic Cotton sweater. I love it on her.

THE SALE IS COMING!!! THE SALE IS COMING!!

2009-05-27T13:16:00.000-07:00

I want to let everyone know that THE YARN COMPANY SUMMER SALE starts on Tuesday June 2 at noon! All summer yarns will be 10%-30% off of original prices as well as selected winter yarns also. So be sure to come in or phone your order in - and stock up! We've still got lots of great yarns left and need to make room on our shelves for incoming fall/winter yarns! The sale prices are not listed on our website so feel free to call 888-yarnco1 to ask how much your favorite yarn is on sale for. I'll list a few great ones here that will be 30% off: 1. Taris - I wore this tee shirt the other day and got a million compliments! And the yarn comes in great colors. I think it would actually make a nice skirt also. 2. Ulmo Multy - This is a great yarn! The colors are FABULOUS - and it knits beautifully. I am making Zoe a skirt out of it now in the orange/purple/brown color - the banyan one I did last year. It is a bit hard to picture what the yarn will look like when you see it in the ball - but if you take a chance I am sure you will be delighted! The sweater that we made last year which is on the website is also a great little project. 3. Nepal - This is also a wonderfully soft cotton yarn. It comes in some fun colors. The wrap we made is not for beginners but if you feel up to the task - it is a great sweater. Otherwise - you can do anything with this yarn: baby sweater or a great pullover for the summer - you name it - you can do it! 4. Mulberry Silk - This 100% silk yarn is beautiful and great to knit with. A true luxury - and at 30% off - a great time to give it a try! Also 30% off - some other yarns I love - without the commentary - banyan, jeans, linen jeans, ayala and jamaica. Don't forget there will be LOTS more on sale too. And if you spend $200 or more you get a FREE Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for All Seasons - A $30 value! Other than the upcoming sale - I thought I'd share a few photos from memorial Day weekend. - Max & the Mayor! How cool is that?! The happiest girl in the world - Zoe had a smile on her face all weekend. She just loved running around and playing in sprinklers and eating ice pops! And here is Julie's son, Nicholas. Also, happy as a clam!

KNITTING REDUCES RISK OF MEMORY LOSS

2009-05-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

As a mom of young kids with a house to run and a store to operate – I am busy and probably over extended. Usually, I don't mind. But what bothers me is my startling lack of memory. For example, today, on my way home from dropping Max off at school, I stopped off at the store to prepare a bank deposit. I put it in my pocket and figured I would stop at the bank on my way home since it is right on the way. About a block or so before I reached the bank I put my hand in my pocket and said to myself "oh yeah, I have a deposit, I have to stop at the bank" (mind you this was only 10 minutes after I had put the deposit in my pocket in the first place.) Anyway, five minutes later, as I am walking up the steps to my apartment I once again put my hand in my pocket and this time I said "What the ---!!!" The deposit was still there! Next anecdote...Today, on my way to work, I decided I wanted to pick up something to eat at Corner, a new little place between 84th and 85th street and Broadway. On 86th and Broadway, I reminded myself that I needed to cross Broadway on the next block so I could get my food. Next thing I knew I was in front of The Yarn Company with no coffee and no food in my hands. I had to order from Lenny's. Why am I telling you this - my woes with loss of extremely short term memory??? (I just read this great book - Still Alice - about a woman who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers - and although her symptoms were more severe and even though I am really not a hypochondriac at all...I have my worries) - But that is not why. I am telling you this because, while there are many reasons to love knitting: the sense of satisfaction from completing a project, the beautiful colors and textures, the joy we get when making things for others... the list goes on and on and is different for everyone. But now there is another reason – knitting is actually good for you! I just read an article in Yarn Market News (a trade publication) - that says that two studies were recently done regarding the health benefits of knitting. At the Mayo clinic, Dr. Yonas Geda reported that " in a study of 50-65-year-olds that those who knit, quilt and engage in similar activities were found to reduce their risk of memory loss in later years by 30 to 50 percent." Also, in an article in March "Ways to fight Demential in your 20's, 30's and 40's", Dr. Paul Nussbaum, a neuropsychologist said that "using both hands works both sides of your brain." Thus helping to ward off dementia. So, it's good to know that had I not been knitting for the past twenty years - things could be much worse for me - maybe I wouldn't remember my kids names, not just forget to stop some place.

Zoe's Skirt, My Plants & Max's Poems

2009-05-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Zoe's Zara Chevron Skirt - Zoe made her mommy happy last week and wore the skirt I made her this past fall. She was the hit of the birthday party! We just got our Zara colors filled in - so come check them out. It also looks great in cotton classic! If I ever finish my Mondrian dress for her I want to make her another one of these skirts - just in cotton. Well, we saw some great new yarns for the fall last week from Tahki Stacy Charles. Despite wanting to buy very conservatively, Julie and I may have gotten a bit carried away. They had some beautiful new yarns, very soft. Stacy Charles, Karma, is a beautiful wool/angora blend. They had it last year - but it will be new for us. It is super soft, knits on a fairly large needle but is light and airy feeling. And Teva Durham has a great new yarn called Granite. It is a very soft merino wool and nylon that knits on a #13 needle but again is not at all dense. We also got some Zarina print and zara in new multi colors. I think we are off to a good start. We see Jay on Thursday. He has Sublime, and Debbie Bliss. I spent the majority of yesterday doing more planting on my roof deck and various other decks. It was exhausting - but I must say - it looks wonderful! I took the advice of one of our customers and planted all marigolds on the roof in the window boxes - it looks very fresh. Maybe if this yarn thing doesn't work out she can give me a job as a landscaper! Take a look: Now some close ups: marigolds daisies Also, yesterday I went to Max's class publishing party. They published poems that they'd been working on. Because what mother doesn't think that their kid is a genius - I'll share his poems with you: AQUA BLUE IN THE AIR Aqua Blue is every fabulous sea floating up and down. Coming on the shore,Singing it's sweet tune: Woosh, Woosh, Woosh! Aqua blue's smell is so charming it fills the air with brightness shimmering in the sunlight so bright. WRITE, WRITE Write write, write. Fast as you can You can't catch me I'm the little writing paper man! The pencil chased the writing paper all the way to a lake The paper jumped in And got all soggy Pretty impressive for a first grader, huh?

Time to Buy New Yarns

2009-05-05T10:55:00.000-07:00

We see our first line of Fall/Winter yarns on Thursday morning. Stacy & Diane from Tahki/Stacy Charles yarns are coming. I love seeing all the new yarn but it is so hard to choose. Also, this year I think that Julie and I will have to be very disciplined in our buying...the darned economy. Gone are the days of "We'll take 10 bags of that color and 20 of that one....ooh and this yarn too..." Now it's more like "Should we get this yarn or that? What colors can we do without?" Not quite as much fun as it once was, that's for sure. But hopefully we'll see some exciting new yarns and it will get the knitting juices flowing again! Next week we see Jay from Knitting Fever -- he has Debbie Bliss, Sublime, Noro, Katia....then it's Toni who has Gedifra, Rowan, Nashua and Louet and then Donna who has Skacel! After that we go to Columbus to the show to see all the lines we still need to buy. We weren't sure that we were going to go to Columbus -I have a Bar Mitzvah that Saturday - but Jeff kept pressing me for an answer so he could RSVP - so when push came to shove - I decided Columbus - here we come! We've gone every year for the last 12 years...how could we miss it? And really when I think about it...a weekend away from my kids, looking at yarn and eating out vs. a weekend with my kids, driving an hour and a half on Saturday morning to Long Island - with Max asking non stop about God and taunting me that he and his dad are believers...only to then sit through a 2 hour bar mitzvah service where the men are going to be separated from the women (or more likely chasing Zoe around the parking lot in 90 degree weather for 2 hours while I am wearing a nice dress and heels)...hmmm. Really it was a no brainer I suppose. Speaking of fun with the kids....Zoe has a new hobby. Biting. This past Sunday we had a surprise 70th birthday party for my Mom. Zoe's cousin, Julia, was there. Zoe did not want to share her scooter so she decided the most effective way to get Julia off the scooter would be to take a chunk out of her arm. Granted, Zoe did not break the skin - but Julia has quite the bruise. Then yesterday - I come down from our roof where I was planting flowers for several hours in the rain and I see that I have a message...it was Zoe's pre-school teacher..."We had an incident with Zoe today...she bit another child..." Ugh! Then last night she bit Max! What is going on with her? I asked her why she was biting people and basically she said she just didn't like what they were doing at the time. She is a VERY verbal kid - so I asked why she didn't use her words and she just gives me this evil smile and shrugs her shoulders. It's always an adventure. I took a picture of the little monster wearing her Zara chevron skirt to put on the blog - but I forgot to load it onto the computer - so I'll do that tomorrow...It looks so cute on - I think I will make a cotton one for the summer . she does love wearing the skirts that mommy makes her! Lastly, I cannot for the life of me figure out why when I publish my posts the paragraphs disappear! They are there when I type the blog and they are there when I preview it - but once I publish it - poof - no more paragraphs! Just so you all know - I have nothing against paragraphs - i like them in fact - I just cannot figure out how to keep them!

I've figured out Ravelry and more...

2009-04-28T10:33:00.000-07:00

So, it seems that we skipped spring and launched right into summer. I was wearing my summer knits all weekend. Saturday I had on the great Ayala tank top. Saturday night Jeff and I went to a wine tasting party and I wore a little black dress and my linen shrug (I was woefully under dressed - but everyone consumed too much wine too quickly to really take too much notice.) Then Sunday I actually didn't wear a knit - but I did dress Zoe in her Banyan skirt which she loved and it looked just adorable on her! I need to hurry up on her Mondrian dress - I have one side finished - but I guess that is not going to cut it. I seem to have little knitting time....between trying to get stuff done on the computer (I will elaborate on this in a minute), reading (I've just read two good books --The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver and The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards- both really good- and I am engrossed in Still Alice by Lisa Genova right now), work, kids, and life in general I feel like I need 48 hour days - not 24! On the computer I have been working on two main things. First - I have finally figured out Ravelry! I am really not sure why it took me so long - but someone finally showed me and it's really easy. I have put some projects up - so look at my page - or join The Yarn Company Group - I think you can just click through above... I am also working on setting up a Yarn Girls' Website that will offer downloadable patterns. We have tons of new designs but no platform for them really - publishing is in the tank and I don't see us doing a new book - so I thought a good way to get our patterns out there for those who want to purchase them without purchasing the yarn from us is to join the bandwagon and set up a site! I am trying to do this as much by myself as possible - my lessons at The Apple store need to pay off. I have the general format of how to go about it down - but before I can do do much I need to size all the patterns and we need to redo photography. Then I can set the whole site up and hopefully only need to engage an outsiders help for the e-commerce aspect. Lofty ambitions but I think I can do it. My goal is to have the site up by sometime in August. I can't believe it is May next week - we start seeing reps to buy Fall yarn! I am not sure I can wrap my thoughts around wool at the moment - but I guess I have no choice...and it is suposed to get colder tomorrow. Until next week...happy knitting. Check out Zoe in her Tahki, Sky cardigan.

2009-04-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

Well I am back from Jamaica. A week of sun and fun was very nice. The trip was good - easy travel - the place we stayed was fine...very kid friendly and we all had a nice time. I read on the beach and was about as lazy as I could possibly be. Jeff relaxed and enjoyed all things Jamaican. Max loved the big waterslide and playing soccer on the beach...he loved making his schedule each morning and sticking to it. And Zoe loved the jamaican men. She cooed and batted her eyelashes --it was quite a spectacle. She named the grill guy "ya man" and stood at the grill demanding ice cream, popcorn and attention. This is Zoe dancing the night away with Kervan. Here is zoe loving her daddy. Max also went sailing everyday with one of the lifeguards. He loved it - I think he really got a thrill going way out into the ocean - I got some palpitations but I love that he has a sense of adventure. That is Max on the boat all the way out.... And here he is a little closer to shore. I did not get much knitting done - almost the front of Zoe's dress. I am happy with my color choices though - it is going to be super cute if she actually wears it. Well - it's nice to be back (kind of)...and hopefully I'll have more knitting news next week. Until then - happy knitting!

2009-04-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

I am on my way to Jamaica on Saturday. I cannot wait- I am so ready to get away! I am in the packing/gathering/stressing out phase that always accompanies getting ready for a trip with kids. I really hate packing for trips with my kids - I always feel there is so much stuff to bring because of my uncertainty as to what the kids will actually need... will they wear one or two pairs of shorts in a day? Will Zoe drip ice pop all over herself everyday or every other dayor twice daily? So I almost always end up overpacking their clothes. Then I pack medicine - what if they get a fever - bring motrin, what if they have a cough, a stuffy nose, diarreah etc. And I always like to have an antibiotic for strep on hand and the pink eye eye drops(because who knows if I can get medicine where I am - or my medicine of preference??) I really turn into a nut in such a situation! Then the kids need entertainment for the plane, food for the plane...I need to make sure I pack special animals that they sleep with, that special blanket (Zoe likes to sleep with 5 blankets on top of her, in a specific order...she has a little ocd with that...but I have already told her I am limiting her to one blanket - we'll see how that goes over)...and then I need some books, and who knows what else? If it were just me I'd bring a bathing suit, flip flops and a few shirts, shorts and some nyquil(just in case). Anyway, between the packing, the upcoming seder at my in laws, my husband's partially torn achilles, and my father sending me an email that he "needs to speak to me about something urgent soon" -- it all made my eye start twitching. It was very annoying, so today I am trying to take a lot of deep breaths! Today I am trying to focus on what knitting I should bring with me on vacation. I have decided to make Zoe her own Mondrian dress. I am going to use pink, off white, brown, turquoise and green. I am very excited. I am also trying to figure out one more project and I can't decide between a sweater for me out of black Gedifra, Ayala - or something else for Zoe -- maybe her own Creative Focus Silk cardigan. We'll see. Tomorrow I am taking Max to see the Bodies exhibit down at South Street Seaport. I am looking forward to it. I think it should be interesting and he is fascinated by the human body so I think he will think it is really cool. We are bringing my computer to Jamaica so I should be able to post from there--if not maybe Julie will or I'll be back in two weeks. Happy Holidays. Oh - and I almost forgot...we now have groups on both Facebook and Ravelry - The groups are both called The Yarn Compamny...please join us! Also - anyone know why even though I type my blog with paragraphs and my preview shows paragraphs - there seem to be no paragraphs when I post....I am confounded!

Aaaah Life.....

2009-03-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like it's hard to keep my head above water. Our phone system (that we've had for 10 years) stopped working the other day. Now the phone rings and if we pick it up with the phone system then the person on the other end can't hear us - so we have to go through this convoluted process to answer the phone so that we can be heard. We ordered a new phone but it can't come soon enough! Then our printer ran out of ink. Last month our laptop that we use in the front of the store died. At home, we have a mouse. Our roof is leaking. And Zoe has pink eye and vomited last night because she cried so hard when I was trying to put the drops in her eyes. And I finished the beautiful Sublime sweater for Zoe - the one with the cables and bobbles, it looks great. I had her try it on this morning - after I sat on her for quite sometime trying to get drops in her eyes - and it fit very nicely. She wore it for all of three seconds - not even long enough to snap a picture of her in it for the blog - and then she threw it on the floor. I am finding this series of unfortunate events to be rather mentally exhausting! But on the bright side - we went to Max's school auction on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun. I went a little crazy bidding for things - but it made me feel better. We ended up coming home with a great framed and autographed picture of Mike Richter - former Rangers all star, skating lessons for Max, a tour of the 20th police precint for Max - plus he gets photo ops in a police car and he can get fingerprinted, some tickets to kids shows (Dear Edwina and Goodnight Moon & The Runaway Bunny) - and a giant snake that was a class project (I thought someone would outbid me for it - but I was the only sucker crazy enough to bid for it. Jeff was not so happy about that one.) We also won a day with Max's teacher for Max in a raffle. All in all we did pretty well. Richard Kind, the comedien, was the auctioneer and he was great - so funny. He really got everyone into the giving mode. And Bill Telepan outdid himself at this years auction - offering up 3 dinners cooked in people's homes - each going for $9,000!!! (last year it was for $7,500 and I was amazed) - so again - I let all of you reading the blog know - he is a very generous man - support his restaurant - it is delicious! He also is an advocate for wellness in the school and has come in and made lunch for the kids - which is a huge hit. He has a salad bar and made wonderful wraps...it's really a great thing! Anyway, they say the school brought in 20% more than last year, pretty impressive!

The Modrian Dress

2009-03-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

We finished the Mondrian inspired dress. Check it out on Zoe.

Something to think about....

2009-03-24T10:18:00.001-07:00

I was reading an article in Sunday's NY Times about an independent book store that was closing down in Chappaqua, NY. As an independent retailer, with a small "local shop" myself, the article made me a little sad. It basically spoke about how hard it is for an independent local retailer to survive not only in today's economy, but in today's world of mega stores and the internet. The article discussed that it has become a game to look on the internet to see where you can find the cheapest item you are looking for. I'll admit that I do this myself sometimes. But then the article pointed out that "there are things you lose (when you do this) in ways that are not numerically measurable when a place like this (the bookstore) closes." "Downtown" loses it's vibrancy, it's uniquesness, it's excitement when there is little or no community support. When I think about New York City now compared to how it was when I grew up - it has certainly lost a lot of the neighborhood feel that it once had. There are still some local merchants left that you get to know, say hello to as you walk by and frequent because you know and like them....but for the most part - the drug store is an impersonal Duane Reade or CVS, the bookstore is a Borders or Barnes & Noble, the coffee shop is a Starbucks, there is a bank every other step, the furniture store is a West Elm or Pottery Barn...you get the gist. And it has certainly become harder in the brick and mortar world of Yarn too. While there are of course less "Mega" yarn stores, there are the internet Giants and the internet in general, free patterns, yarn swapping and gossip...all things that make it harder for the LYS (local yarn store - for those of you reading this that are not immersed in the whole online knitting universe) to survive. Anyway, it is just something to think about in general...what is our world going to look like in ten or twenty years from now? Will we ever leave our homes and our computers? Or just have things delivered to our doorsteps and then retreat into our own little worlds? I guess we'll see. And don't forget to sign up to follow the blog - or join us at The Yarn Company group on Facebook!

FACEBOOK, BRIDGE & CABLES

2009-03-19T10:59:00.000-07:00

I set up a Facebook Group for the Yarn Company yesterday. Please join it - I am not sure exactly how I will use it - but I'd love for it to be a place where people can show sweaters they've made - ask questions, talk about knitting in general.... I also went back on Ravelry the other day - thinking we really need to put ourselves out there on it - but I just find it very overwhelming. How do stores use ravelry exactly? I wish I were more techno savvy. But alas, my interests lie elsewhere for the most part. For example, I am going to start bridge lessons tonight! I am very excited. I used to play a little many years ago- at camp actually (I went to a completely unstructured hippy dippy camp where half the time we went to our bunks and played cards instead of softball - and the other half of the time we were skinny dipping at Tushy Rock and singing union songs..."Oh there once was a union maid, who never was afraid, of the goons and the ginks and the company finks....." Okay - I am going off on quite a tangent...) Back to bridge lessons - - we have an instructor and another couple coming over to our house tonight...I think it should be fun. I remember really enjoying bridge and would love to become good at it - I should have been born several decades before I was - bridge, knitting - and I'd love to learn mah-jong too. Anyway, because they are coming over at 8pm - I really want Zoe to be asleep by then. I asked my babysitter not to give her a nap today so that when I get home I can just put Zoe down and she'll fall right asleep. BUT my babysitter just called and told me that Zoe passed out on the floor. Poor baby. It's not like she doesn't ever not nap. Pretty much every weekend she skips her naps and has no problem with it...of course on the one day I want her not to nap she passes out. Is that kind of like a Murphy's Law situation? I think so. Well, we'll see what happens tonight - I'll keep my fingers crossed. On the knitting front - I am still plugging away at Zoe's sweater. I am almost done with the 2nd front. The other day though I was almost done with the 1st front and I looked at it and about two thirds of the way down I saw one cable that was wrong, so of course I had to rip it. It was a bummer - I had to rip a few inches out of Jeff's sweater the other day too. It is very unlike me to make mistakes but I guess I am so tired - I am not paying so much attention. Also - we just started watching the Tudors on HBO. We love it - and I am absorbed - so I am not paying proper attention to my cabling.

Vacation Knitting Anyone?

2009-03-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like an upcoming warm vacation to get the summer knitting juices flowing. With many school's spring breaks coming up - we have been doing a steady business in "vacation projects." Smallish items that can be easily packed, to knit on the plane and on the beach...in cotton, of course. Baby and children's sweaters are always good. Purses. Stuffed animals. Or even a cute tank top for an adult is not to much to lug around! Take a look at some of the items people have been picking up and if you come back from your vacation with anything cool send us a picture and we'll post it on the blog! Creative focus silk kids' cardigan: Daria bag: Banyan skirt: and the Snake: I am going to Jamaica in a few weeks - and I am trying to figure out what to bring. Definitely not Jeff's sweater - too big, too hot and too expensive if I lose it! Hopefully Zoe's cable/bobble sweater will be done by then and I am going to start a dress for her - but it is intarsia (color knitting) and that might be a pain on the beach - so I have to figure something out. I am going to need some good books too. Suggestions are always welcome. This past week I haven't been knitting much...I don't know if I mentioned it but I got an Apple laptop for my birthday and I have signed up for private lessons at the Apple store to learn how to use it. ($99 for the year and you can have an hour private lesson once a week!) I am currently learning how to "make movies". I've downloaded all my videotapes of family vacations, birthday parties etc. and last week I learned how to edit them. I can add text, still photos, music and have scenes fade into each other - it is very cool! Next week I will learn how to share my movies - maybe I will try to share one here. After that I am going to learn to build a website. Should be interesting...

Follow our blog!!!

2009-03-03T10:31:00.000-08:00

First things first - did you know you can become a follower of this blog and I think you get notified everytime I post (so exciting right???) - Well I have one follower -thank you! For anyone else out there reading this - I think you should become a follower too. It would make me feel like I am writing and people might actually be reading it - it would be so nice. So I am beseeching you - (is that right??) to please follow the blog! Just scroll down to the bottom of the blog and click the "follow" link. Anyway - is it cold out there or what?! I could barely breathe on my way home from bringing Max to school this morning. I waited or the bus for what seemed like an eternity and when it finally came I could barely feel my fingers. I decided that there was no way I could go to the gym - how could I even think of taking any of my clothes off? (pretty lame excuse - I know). Instead I went home to work on one of my many non knitting projects that I've undertaken in the last week. First - I made a poster for Max's school of the kid's in his class knitting. His principal asked me to put together 5-10 photos that they could hang on the wall outside the office. So, I had some of the photos of the kids developed and taped them to a nice piece of black foam board. Then I used silver marker to write on it. It came out pretty well - I probably should have used a stencil for the writing part - but it's fine. Next I worked a little on my anniversary gift for Jeff. Times are tough so I am making him a present. I am making him a corkboard out of all the wine corks that he has saved over the years. I think you can buy something like this from the skymiles catalogues for not to much money- but it's the thought that counts. Yesterday I went to the lumber store and bought molding and plywood - and had them cut the molding so I could glue it onto the plywood to make a frame. I also bought some wood glue and antuque gold colored paint. (All of this cost more that if I'd purchased the damn thing from the airline catalogue - but I have to remember that it's the thought that counts!) So yesterday I put my frame together and painted it. Today I began gluing the corks onto the plywood. It takes a long time to do this - and then I have to hide it somewhere that Jeff won't find it...I also hope I have enough corks - I laid them out - roughly before I bought everything - but it may have been too rough. We'll see. Unfortunately, I did not have time to work on my other project - putting my videos from my video camera onto my computer! I've been doing this all weekend - I only have one or two left. I has been really fun seeing videos of max when he was 1 and 2 years old. He was so cute! On Friday I have a lesson at the Apple store and I'll learn how to edit my video and make cool movies. I am so excited! I also worked on my knitting projects over the weekend. Max and Jeff went back up to Vermont to ski - (Max is now doing double black diamond trails-he is a far cry from the adorable two and a half year old that dressed up in my black sundress and a withches hat and recited Beauty and the Beast word for word. It's true - I have it on tape) Anmyway - I plopped Zoe down in front of several hours of Dora, Diego and Lola & Charlie (a bad mother...?) and I worked on my organic cotton cardigan for Zoe - I am almost done with the back. And I worked on Jeff's aran cashmere cable sweater. I had put it down for a while because I made a mistake - and it is tough ripping out all those stitches...all those cables - but I did it and am almost back to where I was. Take a look at Zoe's organic cotton sweater in the works!

So much knitting....so little time

2009-02-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

I went skiing at Stratton mountain in Vermont last week. It was great - snowed 9 inches one night! There is nothing better than sitting in an outdoor hot tub with the snow coming down... Max went to ski school. He is really becoming a great skiier - he can ski black diamonds! I put Zoe on skis one morning. It was probably the worst $25 I've ever spent - but it was fun (for me). I dragged her around for a few minutes and then made her walk in the skis. She cried a little, laughed a little and then informed me that now it was time for a treat! I couldn't disagree - we went and got sour gummies which she then proceeded to eat while plopped down in the snow. It was pretty cute. I thought I'd get a lot of knitting done while away - it seems I always think that and it is never the case. I did knit in the car on the way up to Vermont. I worked on Jeff's sweater a little - I am almost done with the back. Then I worked on my little girls' swing cardigan out of the Nashua handknits, Creative Focus Silk. It is a great 100% raw silk yarn with great drape. I love the little cardigan - it really came out adorable. It only takes 3 balls for a size one. Zoe told me she wants me to make her one. I think I will. I just started a cardigan for her out of Sublime Organic Cotton. It has cables and bobbles - it will be adorable when I am done. When I got back to work on Saturday - I walked in to a transformed store! Despite the freezing temperatures outside - it is definitely spring here at The Yarn Co. You should definitely check out our site, www.theyarnco.com to see all the new yarns we've gotten in. There is an unbelieveable yarn called Ella Rae Bamboo Silk. It is so soft and luscious and comes in a wide array of beautiful colors. Berroco, Seduce just came in - and it comes in some great multi colors now too. Those will be up on our site soon. I need more time to knit! All this yarn, so many ideas and so many other things to do too....aaargghhhh!

My Little Knitters

2009-02-10T11:54:00.000-08:00

On Friday afternoons I go into Max's first grade class and teach the kids how to knit. I've been doing this since around November. I started out teaching all the kids in small groups. Everyone had to try it once or twice. As we continued, some kids really loved it and others no so much. So, the knitting became an optional activity during their "Friday Fun Time". Any child that has caught on and can more or less knit by themselves is always welcome to sit in the circle and knit for however long or short a time they want. Some sit the whole hour, others knit a row or a few rows and then move on to blocks or lego. Those who still need to be watched carefully can get my undivided attention for 10-15 minutes - and generally after that short time with one-on-one attention - they are set to join the group. The kids who knit with me weekly are amazing! They are perseverent, excited and proud of what they are doing. It is really fun. Some kids knit very methodically, rarely making a mistake. Others knit and talk and change positions like a jumping bean - and while their work may show it - it still looks wonderful. This past week was very exciting because three kids finished their projects. My son, Max, finished his scarf. Another little boy finished his scarf and a little girl finished a purse. Another little girl should be done with hers next week. The yarn that the kids are using was donated by TahkiStacyCharles - they have beautiful yarns. You can visit their website at www.tahkistacycharles.com And the great pictures were taken by Sinje who came with me to school to see the kids in action and is thinking about writing some sort of an article about the whole thing! She has a great blog www.knityoursocksoff.blogspot.com if you want to check it out. Finally - my sister says she just sent me pictures of her cakes - I will post them soon - wait to be amazed!!

Nothing to do with Knitting

2009-02-03T10:42:00.001-08:00

So, my first week of being 40 has been a pretty good one. Max's play was very cute -it was about animals that try to escape from the zoo b/c there are bad guys who they think are going to get them. Max was a pirate - bad guy. He wore his pirate costume - with a pirate bandanna on his head which he kept pulling down over one eye. He thought that would make him look like he had a patch...but it did not do that. I found myself constantly motioning to pull it up - I'm sure he never saw me - but I sat in the audience and kept putting my hand on my eyeand moving it to my forehead. Anyone who did not know he was my kid probably thought I had some sort of a wierd tic. Afterwards, my birthday dinner at Spiga (on the UWS) was delicious. My mom gave me an i- phone for my birthday - which came in very handy on Friday. Let me tell you why. Jeff was throwing a party for me on Saturday night and he decided that we MUST get glasses and plates and silverware for the party that we could use again for future parties (the last big party we had at our house was when he turned 40 - three and a half years ago- so I have no idea why he had this bug up his butt - but he did). So he researched on the internet and found inexpensive items that we liked at CB2 - Crate and Barrel's less expensive alternative. We dropped the kid's off at school and drove down to soho to get the stuff. When we arrived I had to go to the bathroom like it was nobody's business. I was going to explode. So a moment after Jeff launched into his "I need this and I need that..." - I interupted and asked if I could use the ladies room. The snippy manager told me that they did not have a bathroom. Of course they have a bathroom. So, I explained to her that of course they did and that we were planning on purchasing quite a bit of stuff and that I really needed to go. She said "NO!" So of course I was fuming and began yelling at her and told Jeff I had no interest in purchasing anything there....by the way we were the only customers in the store and there were about 6 or 7 staff. Someone could have easily escorted me to the private bathroom and made sure that I did not trash the place and the cat would not have been let out of the bag that a super secret bathroom really did exist. Anyway - Jeff wasn't leaving after we shlepped all the way downtown and since we had no plan B. so - I stormed out of there and searched for a bathroom until I finally found a Starbucks. When I returned I stretched out on a couch they had and contacted CB2 customer service on my i-phone and vented - giving the nasty manager's name and all. It was great to be able to send the email right at the moment my ire was really up. I got an email back quite quickly saying someone would contact me shortly - but as of yet noone has. And since I have calmed down a bit - I have not yet persued it. But I plan to. We, here at The Yarn Co - allow patrons to use our facility - and yest - sometimes it is gross and yes - someone did try to flush our toilet with their foot and totally broke our toilet - but still we let people use it! Then Jeff had a lovely party for me on Saturday night. There were 18 people at our house and it was a lot of fun. My sister made an amazing cake - it had a ball of yarn and knitting needles on it. She is an amazing cake maker - not only did it look great - but it tasted delicious too. I've been eating the leftover cake for breakfast since Saturday. She is going to send some pictures of cakes she's made in the past - once I get them up - let me know if you'd like her to make a cake for you!

I'm 40.

2009-01-28T09:49:00.001-08:00

Today I am 40. I feel as though I should be having a breakdown of some sort - but really it feels like any other day. Zoe still woke me up at 5:45am and demanded that we turn her light on as bright as we could so that she could play school with her dolls. When I asked if she had anything she wanted to tell me she said "I SAID TURN THE LIGHT ON!" - so much for a spontaneous happy birthday from a 2-year old. Max did come running into the room screaming "Happy Birthday" at 6:30am - and he sent me a birthday email from his new email account. But then I made breakfast as usual, force fed them as usual, screamed at Max to get on the potty and then screamed at him again to stop kicking the soccer ball and get dressed!!!! Then we trudged to school in the rainy snow and then I went to Pilates even though I didn't really feel like it--but I hear it is harder to keep my girlish figure upon turning 40, so I went. Now here I am at work - blogging. I should be blogging about yarn, but yarn is so much less interesting at this moment than moaning about my age. This evening's festivities will include going to Max's school to see him in his "create-a-play" performance - a performance starring kindergarteners and 1st graders in his class and also written by them - songs and all. I think Max is a pirate since he made me pack his pirate costume in his backpack. I thought he said the play was about a Zoo...maybe a pirate comes to visit the zoo??? I brought my video camera though so that I can record the moment. After that we are going out to dinner and Jeff is throwing me a small party on Saturday. He is also getting me an Apple laptop and my mom is getting me an i-phone - all so I can feel like I am only 25! Onto the world of knitting. I just started knitting Jeff a present for his birthday. I am making an absolutely beautiful cabled sweater for him in Filatura di Crosa, Aran Cashmere. The pattern is from Jane Ellison's men's book. I really love it. I am about 10 inches up the back - 142 stitches - should we take bets on whether I will still love it when I am on my last sleeve? My goal is to give it to him for his 44th birthday in July - but it could be a 45th birthday present too. My attention span is not what it once used to be - nor is the time I can devote to knitting on a daily basis. Funny thing is that I have been knitting it at night on the couch - right next to him and he has't once inquired what I am making. Maybe I'll knit the whole thing in front of him and it will still be a surprise. My other knitting project that I will begin shortly is going to be a dress for Zoe - I cut a dress out of a magazine that I am going to copy as a knit - it is an Yves Saint Laurent - Piet Mondrian...very geometric - I love it - I think it will work out nicely. Until next time....

New President, New Yarn!

2009-01-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

I just want to say that yesterday was an amazing day. I did not get to see Obama's speech or his oath in real time - I was on a class trip to the Queen's Science Museum - but I had chills at noon when 25 first graders began clapping and cheering upon the announcement that Barak Obama had just been sworn in as our 44th President. Truly a wonderful moment in history -- I hope that Max remembers it! So, in honor of our new President and to help the economy along -- let me tell you about some of the yummy new yarns we have just gotten in so you can call us and order lots! Fifteen new Koigu multi colors are here. Our Koigu Wrap is lots of fun to make and with our new selection of colors - picking 7 different ones is no problem at all! It's definitely a favorite here at the Yarn Co.! I also just finished the sweater I've been working on out of Koigu Solid. I like to call it "The Dot" . Another great new yarn that we've just gotten is Crystal Palace Merino 5. It is a beautiful new 100% merino yarn in a wonderful array of multi colors. I can't decide what to make with it. Maybe a quick sweater for Zoe - because she doesn't have enough. But it's great for adult sweaters, hats, scarves and baby blankets! We are still waiting for Flame and Merino HP and in February we are going to start getting spring yarns --I'd be excited about that if my fingers were not frozen as I am sitting here typing. I can't imagine wearing a tee shirt or a tank top any time in the near future.

WE HAVE A BLOG????

2009-01-14T12:53:00.000-08:00

We know that the number one rule in the world of blogging is that you MUST post regularly. We know that there is probably no one out there reading this blog because we have had terrible, horrible, lackadaisical posting practices. But we are going to try again and hope that those of you out there that found us once, find us again and that you find forgiveness in your hearts. We hope that you give us another chance and we promise to try to be good bloggers and post often and regularly. That said, we met with a lovely woman today who has her own blog. She came to interview us -- she is reviewing NYC yarn stores in February. http://www.knityoursocksoff.blogspot.com/ When she asked us about our blog, Julie and I looked at each other and fell silent....and then "our blog?...Oh yeah, our blog!" I suppose we should do a quick "catch up" since October. Our computer crashed again (the beginning of the end of the blogging), a new president was elected, the store got busier for the holiday season, we had a wonderful trunk show during the month of December --Prism Arts sent us so many beautiful hand dyed yarns in luscious fibers which our customers snatched up like kids in a candy store, and we have made it to a new year despite the crashing economy! I knit Zoe an awesome dress out of Sublime cashmere silk dk. http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/396 I will have to put the picture on - it is grey and black striped and really came out great! She has these adorable patent leather boots that look awesome with it - but she prefers her pink new balance sneakers -- for the high fashion 2-year old look. I made Max two ribbed hats that he looks great in - I used 3 balls of Torino bulky and made two hats. http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/396 Right now I am working on Koigu Solid http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/440 sweater as a sample for the store. It is lime green and has a big blue circle in the center. It's very cute - I am in the process of deciding if the sleeves should be stripped or solid. Now that it's January, we are kind of in a yarn store netherworld. Even though it is freezing outside and in real life we seem to be entering into the thick of winter, here at The Yarn Co. winter is on its way out and spring is just around the corner. Although we are restocking some Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky and Punta del Este, Flame. Today we completed our spring buying. Cottons, linens, silks, bamboos and more will begin arriving in early February. We will pick up where we left off soon!

The Yarn Girls Go Shopping

2008-10-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Julie and I went "shopping" on Madison and 5th Avenues on Monday. "Shopping" in this sense means going around to expensive stores (think Barney's, Henri Bendel, Bergdorff Goodman...) and not buying anything- (who has the $$ in this down economy for $300 hats?) - but instead, looking for pricey knits that our customers can make for less! Well, we suceeded. We found lots of cute hats, scarves and other knit accessories that were $200 or more - that can easily be knit up for somewhere in the fifty dollar range. Already I've knit up a cute Balaclava out of Teva Duraham's Tundra (that's me in my knock off - above- think how great this will be in December when it is zero degrees outside!), and a chunky striped beret out of Blue Sky Bulky. Julie is working on an adorable cap with a brim out of Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted and Mercedes is making a chic scarf in black and white out of Karabella La llama. In the next few weeks we will get all the projects up on our website and hopefully get out a newsletter giving you some great gift ideas for the holidays that although they are still two months away - will be upon us before we know it. And who can believe that election day is less than a week away! To help ease your jitters between now and late Tuesday night (hopefully) - we are having an Election Day Sale! All yarns in the store will be 10% off. It is a great time to begin making some holiday gifts - save some $$ on yarn and ease your anxiety by doing a little "knitting as stress relief."

Computer Trouble!

2008-10-03T11:21:00.001-07:00

Have we had computer problems!!!! A virus took over our computer a few weeks ago. Finally after Julie spent many many hours trying to get the virus off our computer, we had to call a real tech person to come in and fix us up (he was here for 4 and a half hours!) Then when he left - for some reason our virus protection was not on and over the weekend we got 2 new viruses. Julie managed to eradicate those herself. And she had to install new memory so that the computer would move faster than a turtle! So that's why there have been no blogs. (excuses, excuses...) But - we are hopefully back up and running. Things here at the yarn co are great. We have gotten in pretty much all of our new yarns and they are just to die for. Yesterday we finally received our Bottega 100% Cashmere - Julie will put it on the site next week. It comes in 11 great colors and is a good buy for 100% cashmere - 125 yards at 4.5 sts to the inch for $45.00! If your pockets are not quite that deep in these trying economic times - we also have beautiful merino hp - I must make a sweater for Zoe out of this. And new Teva Durham yarn, Tundra- it is thick like Tahki Baby but super soft and much lighter feeling. We made a cool raglan sweater that is knit from the top down - not really my thing this top down knitting - especially for an adult sweater - who wants to carry their whole sweater around with them?? But it came out nice and is a little different. We also got a beautiful organic multi colored merino wool called Nimbus. We made an adorable baby sweater from it - it has a cool diagonal edge at the neck. We stole the patten from Sarah Gochberg - she brought her little sweater in for finishing and we thought it was such a nice detail! I taught Max how to knit last week. He totally got it - although he does not have the patience to sit and knit more than a few stitches at a time - all of the sudden after the third or fourth stitch his eyes begin darting around the room seeing the gazillion other things he could be doing. But he wanted me to teach him because I am going to go into his 1st grade class and give them knitting lessons. Should be interesting. But - it is part of the first grade cirriculum at Waldorf schools so I figured why not give it a try! Tahki very nicely donated 30 balls of multi colored Baby yarn for the kids to learn on. I'm excited to do it! And I'll keep you posted on how it goes.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2008-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

Two weeks off. . .now that is the good life. I didn't step in a store, town or really go anyplace except the beach and back to our rental house for two weeks! Quite a change from the hectic life I lead in NYC! It was great and we had an awesome time! I dug huge holes on the beach, made great sand mountains for Max and Zoe to climb up and jump off, I actually went in the ocean, I ate lots and lots of yummy tri-berry pie with vanilla ice cream, did not exercise, played a million games of rat-a-tat cat and blokus, watched the olympics and the democratic convention, had picnic dinners on the beach and was just totally relaxed and content. It was quite a shock to my system to get back to NYC, throw a labor day BBQ, have school start for Max, come to work again and have many errands, doctor's appointments etc. to take care of. But, I am finally getting back into the swing of the daily grind. I barely knit a stitch while I was away. I finished Zoe's chevron skirt in Zara on the car ride out to vacation. But I didn't have a sewing needle with me so I couldn't finish it until I got back. And I knit a sleeve for Max's baby cashmerino sweater. That is it. But now that I am back and we have sooooo many great new yarns, my head is spinning with all of the projects that I want to make. The new Jane Ellison men's book has a great cable sweater that I want to make for Jeff out of the aran cashmere - maybe for his 45th birthday (he's 43 now), in the one of the new sublime books there is a great cardigan with a cabled yoke that I want to make for Zoe out of the cashmere silk dk and I want to make zoe a dress - modifying the chevron skirt I just made her. I will post some pictures of vacation soon! And lastly - Thanks to Tara for filling in while we were away. Nate is a great model!

Thinking Pink

2008-08-28T15:22:00.001-07:00

Julie and Jordana will be back next week and after being on vacation for two weeks, they should have a lot of projects completed to blog about. So until then you are stuck with me. I am starting to get a little sick of brown and blue and green. As soon as I found out I was pregnant with a boy, I have barely touched a ball of pink yarn, let alone knit with it. That was over three years ago. I pretty much only knit sweaters/blankets for Nate, a) because he is still young enough not to argue about what he wears and loves telling his friends that his mommy made this, b) my husband lost the golf club covers I knitted for him back when we were dating (and then admitted he never really liked them anyway) and therefore I stopped knitting for him, and c) I love seeing Nate in all his sweaters and hoping that one day he will pass them down to his own children. That said, there arent too many options to make for a 3-year-old boy, in terms of color and style. And when you are as obsessed as I am about knitting, you need projects you are excited about. So about two months ago I went up to the Yarn Co to pick out some new projects and saw the Dream Childs Dress and decided I had to make it, even though I dont really have a one-year-old girl in mind to knit it for. I knit the body of the dress in pink and added a red pocket and big red buttons - if any of my friends become pregnant with a girl, you are very lucky because I will give you this adorable dress. I started to like seeing myself with pink yarn so I copied Jordana and made her Samba Dress for Zoe in, of course, pink. When I went back up to the store to show the girls my new dresses, Jordana was working on the Cashmerino Aran Striped Blanket (from Sublime) and I had to do the same - of course using pink, orange, green and white. I am thinking about making an adult size because it looks amazing (if I do say so myself) and sooo soft. And finally, I couldnt resist going to my favorite section of the Yarn Co, the Zara shelves (see previous post). I just knitted a pink Sophisticated Baby sweater with orange trimming and pink/orange flower buttons. Unfortunately I dont have someone to model these projects but maybe my husband I will work on that - I certainly dont want them to go to waste! While I tend to babble when I blog, I hope you take from them how much I enjoy knitting and how much I love the Yarn Co and Julie/Jordana (and Petra, Mercedes, Leslie, Jen, etc). No matter how many times I go up to the store (and my husband will tell you that is very often), there is always something knit up that I want to make - if I havent said it before, the Yarn Co is by far the best knitting store I have ever been to and anyone living in NYC or visiting should not go anywhere else. And more importantly, Julie and Jordana have given me a hobby and a passion that continues to grow even stronger everytime I walk into their store and see more projects I want to make. Have a great Labor Day Weekend - is summer really almost over? Make way for the wools! Tara Goldsmith Elbaum

Tara/Zara

2008-08-20T10:36:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be filling in as a guest blogger for Jordana and Julie while they are on vacation. Considering that I have enough yarn in my stash to open my own knitting store (at least this is what my husband says), I have a lot of writing material. 10 years ago my friend was having a baby and I was doing my first summer share house in the Hamptons. While walking on the Upper West Side of NYC I walked passed the Yarn Co and something clicked - I could make a blanket for my friend's baby and also have an activity that would occupy me through all the lazy days of summer. Jordana taught me how to knit and I havent stopped knitting since. Over the last decade a lot in my life has changed (marriage, children, move to the suburbs) but knitting has been my constant. It's my "thing" - friends and family are always quick to ask me about my latest knitting project. At my bridal shower a few years ago, we had a knitting instructor come to teach everyone how to knit - everyone made a small square which became a blanket now on my sofa (thanks to Petra, who sewed together each and every square for me). Three years ago we moved out of NYC but I still continue to shop at the Yarn Co - I just buy a lot more yarn in fewer visits (hence the large stash). So now that you know a little about me, I would love to tell you about some of the projects I have been working on. Like Julie and Jordana, I absolutely love working with Zara from Filatura Di Crosa. When all else fails and I am stumped for a new project idea, Ill just choose a color of Zara that looks nice and base the project around the color. The colors are amazing and it's so easy to work with. We have one son, Nate, and he loves when I knit for him - so the majority of my projects are sweaters for him. I made the Yarn Co Zara Sophisticated Baby sweater with crochet trimming in green/brown - a really easy project for beginners and fun to pick the color combinations and buttons (I chose dogs as my son is obsessed). I also just made the Zara Baseball Cardigan in the Yankees colors (navy and white) with baseball buttons. I made the sweater for this fall, hoping Nate would wear the sweater during the playoffs. Now I think I jinxed the Yankees because they are playing terribly - I am hoping I can stretch the sweater or Nate might not grow so much so he can wear it next season. I tend to choose very easy projects so I can knit while watching tv or while chatting with my friends on the train into NYC. However, I found a project that involved intarsia in the Zoe Mellor book, and I decided to take a stab. I must say, I think the sweater came out great - navy Zara with red Zara trim, and a big white skeleton on the front. And finally, I made two sweaters for Nate with tons of Zara colors - I am now an expert in striping. Its just so hard to pick from all the beautiful colors. The single stripe sweater is from the Yarn Co older kids book (but just reduced to 2T size), and the thicker striped sweater is from an old Debbie Bliss book that Julie discovered a few years ago. I chose boy colors and added silver car buttons - and I cant wait for Nate to wear it this Fall/Winter. If you are looking to make a simple yet beautiful baby blanket, I highly recommend the Zara (of course) baby blanket from the Yarn Co book. You get to choose 4 colors of Zara and it's all garter - so it knits up in no time. I have made this for several friends and it is always a huge hit. Julie just made a Zara blanket for a friend that I want to copy - a really interesting pattern that she says is easy. And I get to use 6 Zara colors! I am also working on a sweater for Nate that I am really excited about. I saw a beautiful, cashmere sweater at crewcuts, the J Crew kids store. I couldn't justify paying their price so I brought the catalog to Julie - she wrote the pattern and we picked Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Superchunky yarn. I am also in the middle of the Pasha raglan sweater - I should be finished in no time because it is so quick to knit up. I have attached a few pictures of Nate in his sweaters. I better get back to my many knitting projects so I have things to blog about next week. Happy knitting! Tara Goldsmith Elbaum

The End of the Summer

2008-08-14T12:54:00.000-07:00

I love fall yarns but as we continue to stock our shelves with more and more wool I am feeling a little sad that summer is coming to an end. Max's camp ends tomorrow, we are going away for two weeks and then he starts school the day after labor day. Goodbye summer. Not that there are really any true relaxing summer days when you have 2 kids and a business. Summer doesn't change the 6am wake up calls or the mad rush to get out of the house - summer only means that the sun is rising earlier and we are rushing so we won't miss the bus and miss camp altogether - as opposed to simply being late for school. Nonetheless, I kind of feel like the end of summer means winter is coming and while I love the snow and skiing and winter sweaters - these days it is just a much harder season than it once was -- longer and more claustrophobic perhaps. I also feel like summer was very short this year. I'm on the public school calendar now and it seems like school ended and I blinked once and now it is starting again - I think it really is true how time starts to move so much faster the older we get. I mean Max was just a little lump in my belly and now he is going into first grade! And even Zoe is starting school in September and she is more or less potty trained! And Julie turns 40 today! Woe is me!!! Life is moving so quickly... My knitting even seems to be moving quickly - thanks to Mercedes and the Olympics. Mercedes finished my European market bag -it came out really cute! Julie will add it to our site next week. And while glued to the TV watching the super human Michael Phelps (all I can say is AMAZING!) and the women's gymnastics (no way are those Chinese girls 16!!) -I also made this adorable shrug out of synchronicity - (http://www.theyarnco.com/knit_display/600) it only took one ball for the 18 month size. It was a top down project which I'd never done before so it was a quick, fun project and I must say I liked being done when I was done knitting - no sewing it up. Might have been worth the use of double pointed needles for the sleeve cuffs! I am also almost done with a skirt I am making for Zoe out of Zara. It is brown, rose and a chartreusy yellow done in a chevron pattern. It is going to be great! I will take a picture of her in it and post it when I am done. I really enjoy making skirts and dresses for her, it is fast and fun! Well, next week and the week after we are hoping to have our dear friend/customer, Tara Goldsmith, blog for us while we are away. I am sure she will be a bit more reliable than we are. So look out for her posts - and I'll be back in 2 weeks hopefully with great stories about a relaxing vacation full of fun with the kids and husband!

SO MUCH YARN, SO LITTLE TIME...

2008-08-06T10:29:00.001-07:00

So, I haven't worked since last Wednesday (quite the life of leisure I am living) - and when I walked into the store this morning I couldn't believe all of the yarn that is on the shleves! I love this time of year - getting our fall yarns is always so exciting and inspiring. In the last week we have recieved our Rowan yarns - felted tweed, kid silk haze and cocoon - all in sumtuous colors. We also got the new Rowan magazine, the new Rowan stidio book (which is really good) and a few other new books from them. We recieved a good percentage of our Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran and Cashmerino Superchunky colors, along with some books. And we got the Sublime cashmerino silk dk and the Sirdar baby bamboo. I just want to knit with all the yarns in all the colors! Ideas keep popping into my head faster than I can write them down. Mercedes is making my bag that I started last week - it's going to be really nice - but I made a mistake on it and when I took it off the needles it was GIGANTIC - I had to rip the whole thing out and I couldn't bear to begin again since I already had a skirt project for Zoe in my head. And I just made this adorable little shrug out of a ball of Alchemy, Synchronicity for the store. Julie will put it on the site tomorrow or next week. The 18 month size took exactly one ball. I want to make one for Zoe too. All right people out there - you have to start coming in (or calling)and begin making your fall projects. We have lots of beautiful yarn and we need to pay for it! Also, Julie and I are tired of being ladies of leisure - we're ready to get back into the store and help people pick out great projects! How's that for an unabashed plea! Check out our website to see all the great new yarns and colors, www.yarnco.com - I am not placing the links to all the yarns as the link thing does not seem to be working correctly lately. Also, if you do not already recieve our newsletters you should sign up via our website to recieve them - we let you know whats new and if anything special is going on - we just got a new program that makes them look a bit more interesting. Hope everyone is having a great summer and looking forward to fall.

HOT! HOT!! HOT!!!

2008-07-23T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am ready for this weather to break! It is hard to pick up yarn and needles in this heat - even in our well air conditioned store. But - I must knit...so I dropped the baby cashmerino sweater I am making for Max (yet again) and am making a European Market Bag right now. It is going to be really cute I think. I am using two strands of the Berroco NaturLin, http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/427, on a #10.5 needle and doing a simple lace stitch. I'll put it on when I am done. I got the idea after reading Time magazine about how "green" businesses are flourishing and the how the woman's business that brought these bags to the US is thriving! I figured why not make one that our customers can make and then use. I tried to take the easy way out and just find a pattern for one - but most of the ones I found were crocheted - and that is not my forte - so I decided to design a simple knit one! So now you can either buy one of Jen's Go Green Go Knits bags or make your own market bag! Another good project for these heatwave days is socks! I never thought I'd say it - but they are quick, small and fun to do. We just got in this great Noro Silk Garden sock yarn, http://www.theyarnco.com/doSearch.php?search=0&key=silk+garden, and Mercedes made a cute pair of socks out of just one ball. She used a super easy pattern from the book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. We are expecting several more sock yarns in August. That's it for the knitting news.

hi from the other yarn girl

2008-07-17T10:27:00.000-07:00

Jordana has done most- ok 99.9% of the blogging. But since she missed a week, I thought I might take a stab at it. Jordana and I are barely working together this summer. Summer is a bit slower so we don’t really need both of us at the store and this way we get to spend a bit more time with our children and get errands done a.k.a spend more money. So I read the blog to see what she, and more importantly, her kids are up to. Even though we aren't seeing much of each other our younger 2 children, Nicholas (mine, he's 19 months) and Zoe (you know all about her) are. They play almost everyday, sometimes twice a day, at the park. Nicholas calls Zoe Za Za – I think he said that before he said Mommy. Last week I got a first glimpse of what I will be doing all of August. We received our fall shipment of Zara and Noro Sock Yarn called Silk Garden Socks. We actually ordered several sock yarns and sock patterns. This will be new to the Yarn Co. We are excited about it. I have to admit, I never made a pair of socks – but I am going to make a pair as soon as our solid colors of Koigu PPM arrives (I will double the yarn). The majority of our yarns will start coming in August 1st (the poor UPS guy has to carry huge boxes up our steep and narrow stairs). Once this happens, I am relegated to the office with the camera and computer as I add the new yarns and new colors to our site. I haven’t done as much knitting as I like this summer. I did make Olivia a dress and a baby blanket for my friend Lisa's new baby. The only time I really get to knit is in the car. But now I am determined to become a driver, so I'll have to find another time. I do have my license, but I grew up in NYC and never really had the opportunity to drive that much. Now I just have to gain some confidence and clock some hours behind the wheel. Now to my knitting sad story. The dress I made for Olivia was the first knit dress I ever made for her. She chose the yarn and the color – and after it was all done and looked so cute on her decided she did not like it. Somehow I convinced her to wear it to her pre-school graduation. She had it on and she complained that it felt "too heavy." I accepted defeat and told her to take it off. She had a point. She was used to wearing light cotton dresses, not a knit dress that had some weight to it. I decided this weight might be more bearable in a skirt. So I cut the dress and made it into a skirt and top. Olivia will probably wear neither, but my son Nicholas loved the skirt. I had to chase him around my apartment to take it off. (See the picture) Hmmm, blogging isn’t so bad. I am sure Jordana will be back next week. If not, you may hear from me again.

WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON?

2008-07-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already July 9th! I don't know where the last month has gone, it has been a whirlwind! Max's school ended - which meant many required activities. We had his art show, his end of year class party, the kindergarten end of year picnic, his movie premiere (he made a great movie about Bob Marley) and several half days stuck in there just to throw life off! Then, of course, we had our big blowout June sale - had to make room for all the fall/winter yarn that is on its way imminently. Then Max's camp began, he is loving it but getting on the bus every morning is a bit rough. The first day I cried after I put him on - he looked so nervous and like he was about to burst into tears. All day I had a stomach ache and thought "what kind of a terrible mother am I- putting my 5 year old on a bus alone where he knows noone?" But of course he got off the bus and was happy as a clam with lots to tell about his first day. And everyday is like this he is not thrilled about getting on the bus but then has lots of great events to report once he is home. They have breakfast for lunch once a week (apparently a big highlight), he is going to take his deep water test soon, he rode in go-carts by himself with noone running along beside him and did not crash, and today was water carnival day - it was going to be his best day ever! Don't you love the enthusiasm a five year old has! Then it was July 4th weekend and we went away to visit friends. When I get home tonight I have to post a picture of Zoe that is hilarious! We had a great time - but going visiting is always tiring. And I've been taking Zoe to many doctor's appointments (poor baby is getting tubes put in her ears on Friday). So, suffice to say there has not been that much downtime. ' I have hardly even been knitting...actually that isn't true. I made my friend Lisa who just had a baby girl the Victoria dress (http://www.theyarnco.com/knit_display/206#)that is on the cover of our baby book. I did it in red with pink fizzy trim. Came out great. I made one for Zoe last year - and I put it on her the other day to go to a birthday party and she was the talk of the party. She actualy walked to the party (10 blocks) and so many people stopped her to say how cute she looked. I also made myself a linen shrug in grey (http://www.theyarnco.com/knit_display/369) - also a great fast project - I needed something to wear over my black dresses. And I am in the middle of making Max a sweater out of baby cashmerino - but it is a little slow going and boring but I'm plugging away. I also read two books - James Frey's new book - Bright Shiny Morning - at first I hated it - very disjointed - but in the end I really enjoyed it. He is very easy to read and a good story teller. I also read Wolf at the Table by Augusten Burroughs - if you liked Running with Scissors you'll like it - very similar - I can't even imagine such a childhood! Next I think I will try America, America by Ethan Canin. I also got invited to be in a book club. I am a bit ambivalent about it - I am not really a book club kind of girl. I like to read what I want when I want and am not so into discussing the books - but we'll see. We are getting all of our Zara yarn in tomorrow or Friday and some Noro sock yarn. Other new yarns will start coming at the beginning of August. Ok- anyone wany to take bets on whether I will post again next week?? Hopefully.

THE YARN SHOW

2008-06-10T11:00:00.000-07:00

Before I begin telling you all about our trip to Columbus, Ohio for the yarn show - i just wanted to remind everyone that our ANNUAL SUMMER SALE is going on right now through Thursday, July 3! Most yarns are 10%-30% OFF and we need to make room for all the new fall/winter yarns that will be arriving in August! So come in or check out our website and place an order! (http://www.theyarnco.com/) So, Columbus was mainly good. We had to get all our shopping done on Saturday- so we moved through the place at record speed. First we hit the Koigu booth. We ordered beautiful new colors in the multi Kpppm and - BIG NEWS - we finally ordered Koigu Solids! We have avoided doing this for several years, despite wanting to do it, because the color range is so overwhelming and it is nearly impossible to choose. But we sat down and put our noses to the grindstone and we ordered 25 beautiful solids! We should get them in late August/early September. We'll keep you posted. Other great stuff: We ordered 2 new yarns from Prism. A hand dyed merino that is 5 stitches to the inch. I think it was called symphony. It was really beautiful. And we got a Prism sock yarn in lots of fun hand-dyed colors. We arte also getting indulgence and angora from them again. We are getting this great dk weight yarn from Crystal Palace called Panda Silk. It is a bamboo and silk blend. It is machine washable and comes in beautiful, rich multi colors. We ordered some great new colors in Unique Kolours Absolutely Fabulous throw kits, lots of beautiful Blue Sky yarns - many of which are coming in new colors, new Lexie Barnes and Della Q bags and needlecases and lots of new books. We also found some great carded button sets that will look great on kids sweaters! Oh - and we tried to make the switch from carrying manos to carrying malabrigio yarn. BUT apparently they had a fire in their wasrehouse and it will be 6 months until delivery is back to normal AND they want payment up front for the first order - which if we replace Manos would have to be huge so - maybe next year. But we tried! Got to get going now - but in my next post I will have to tell you a bit about the all nite party that went on in the room next door to us and got us our hotel "comped" for the weekend. And about my new sleep training mission with Zoe (she won't sleep in her crib and vomits if we put her in it at night - last night we began this program to get her falling asleep in her crib and not vomiting when we put her in - but she vomited before we ever got her into the crib!) Happy Knitting!

CHECK OUT ZOE'S NEW OUTFITS

2008-05-29T06:58:00.000-07:00

I finally got Zoe to pose in two of her new summer outfits that I made her. She loves the Banyan skirt. I made it a little longer than her Tiger skirt - but otherwise it is the same. Banyan comes in great colors and it is very nice to knit with. http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/378. Her Tika dress came out great also - I was going to do this three row fairisle pattern - but it was too much work - so I just did a cute A-line dress with two row stripes. Again, there are lots of fun color options - http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/432. I wanted to get some more pictures on - her mayra sweater, her sky cardigan and her soya top - but she was done - so next time. Got to get to work - we are seeing another rep to order more yarn for the fall. I think she has muench, classic elite and punta del este. And next Friday we leave for Columbus to go to the yarn show. I can't believe it is June next week!

RAVELRY ANYONE?

2008-05-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

I am sure that I am light years behind those of you reading this blog but... I have recently discovered www.Ravelry.com. For those of you who do not know what it is: "Ravelry is a place for knitters, crocheters, designers, spinners, and dyers to keep track of their yarn, tools, and pattern information, and look to others for ideas and inspiration." It is very cool. You can keep track of all the yarns you have, all the projects you have made or are in the process of making and best of all you can see what tons of other people are making. The site divides projects into different categories so if you are looking for a cable pattern, you can click on cables and see a bunch of cable projects that people have made. Many tell you the source of the pattern and what yarn they used. Another great thing is if you really like a particular yarn and want to make something out of it, you can search that yarn and see what others have done - it definitely provides lots of knitting inspiration. At the moment, we are trying to get a bunch of our projects up onto the site. It seems like it will be a great place to showcase our designs. We apparently need to join flicka in order to get the photos on - so Julie has to deal with this - but hopefully we will get this done soon. When we were trying to figure out how to add our photos, we searched our names and it was awesome - all these photos of projects that people have done out of our books came up. It was really great to see so many of our projects actually being made by people we don't know. There are tons of them on the site. To get onto Ravelry you have to sign up and then wait about two weeks or so to get your "invitation" - it is not really an invitation - it is just that the site has grown so quickly - they are adding people onto it bit by bit so that it won't crash. I am not really so big on trolling the web for knitting inspiration and such - but I think this is a pretty unique site that most knitters will enjoy.

BUYING SEASON HAS BEGUN!!

2008-05-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

Julie and I have begun our fall buying. There are quite a few nice new yarns out there -- it is always so hard to decide what to get and what to get rid of! We saw our Knitting Fever rep two weeks ago -- Knitting Fever carries Debbie Bliss, Noro, Sublime and some others. Debbie Bliss is coming out with a really nice new yarn called Como - it is 90% wool and 10% cashmere and knits at 3 stitches to the inch. It is very light and soft. And it comes in her usual beautiful palate of colors. Another nice new yarn we found is an Organic Merino Wool by Sublime. It has a slightly felted look and is a dk weight. We are also going to get a new Noro yarn called Yuzen - it is silk, wool and kid mohair. It comes in 5 great colorways. And a new Silk Garden sock yarn! We couldn't decide whether to get the regular Silk Garden again - so we passed - but we could be convinced otherwise if many of you had a strong opinion about it. Then last week we saw Diane and Stacy from Tahki Stacy Charles. We ordered a ton of Zara, Zara Plus and Torino Bulky! They also had some really nice new tweedy yarns - Sedona - which is 90% merino wool and 10% silk and knits up at 4 stitches to the inch. And Tweedy Angora - which is super soft and has a very subtle tweedy effect. We ordered a fun boucle yarn that will be great for scarves and edging - Riccolo. A Teva Durham yarn - Tundra that is 2 stitches to the inch but super light feeling. And Merino Cable - a wonderful merino wool that has a unique twist and knits up at 4.5 stitches to the inch. Plus many other staples and new yarns. This Thursday we are seeing the Westminster rep - Rowan, Gedifra, Nashua - so hopefully they will have a great new line also. And we go to the TNNA yarn show at the beginning of June - so much yarn - everybody will have to start knitting like crazy so we can pay the bills for all this great new stuff!!!! Finish up your stashes this spring because you won't want to miss all the excitement that will begin here at The Yarn Co. in August! Is there anything that people are looking for in particular that we can think about during our visit to the show? More organic yarns, more hand dyed? Any ideas are welcome - and we will consider them!

LOOK BELOW

2008-04-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Scroll down and take a look - I finally posted a picture of Max's Tiramisu blanket. He loves it - it is so soft and cuddly!

HAPPY TO BE HOME

2008-04-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

So, we are back from Disneyworld! The trip was great - but exhausting. Max and Olivia had a very fun time - Olivia met all her princesses and Max went on a gazillion roller coaster rides. Max and I worked the Magic Kingdom so that we rarely waited on a line - getting there early, going on the super crowded rides first and fastpassing anything we could. The key to our sucess was the realization that you can use your fastpass anytime after the time it says you can come back - not just during the alloted timeslot. Anyway - we went on Space mountain about five times - I like roller coasters - but I'll be happy not to go on another one for quite a while. We also went to MGM studios one day. I would say this is definitely a place that could have been skipped. But - Max and I had read a book a few weeks ago called "Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom" and Max really wanted to go on the Disney version of the Drop of Doom - the Tower of Terror. He was so excited to do it - when we got to MGM and there was already a crazy line for it and I told him we'd have to fastpass it and come back in an hour or two he nearly burst into tears. But when we finally did it - it truly terrified him. He did not like it one bit. It was funny - he rarely gets scared - loves roller coasters, trapeze - things that go fast...but this ride inside a spooky haunted hotel - where the elevator drops 13 stories (and goes up and down and up and down...) - did nothing for him. It made me ill. But other than that we had lots of fun - saw parades, ate cotton candy, swam and went down the water slide - it was good mother son bonding. I am happy however, that I will not be heading back to Disney until zoe is 40 inches tall! On the way home Max wrote a book about Disney for his teacher. (He had wanted to get her a $90 Mickey Mouse watch as a present - but I thought she'd like this better) He drew pictures of the rides and wrote about them. I was very impressed. we put the pages on different colored construction paper and then bound it with yarn in his favorite colors. I was kind of sad to give it to his teacher. But he was very proud. The only knitting time I got was on the plane there and back. We were stuck on the runway for two hours going there so I got a lot done. I started another sweater for Zoe out of brown Sky yarn. http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/425 It is a raglan cardigan that is done all in one piece at the top - I think it will be very cute. The weekend before we went to Disney, Jeff and I had to go down to DC for a wedding. A wedding on the first night of Passover! (The engagement party was on Yom Kippur) - So, we left Max and Zoe with Jeff's sister in Princeton so they could go to the family seder and we went to Church. The wedding was nice - the best wedding band I've ever seen -but a trip to DC for 18 hours is very tiring. The car did provide good quiet knitting time though - I am almost finished with Zoe's striped dress out of Tika. I made 2 row stripes and it looks very cute. Zoe is going to have quite the wardrobe this spring/summer.

Life

2008-04-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

I did not post last week --things got a little bit hectic in life as they sometimes do. But life is getting back to normal, so here I am. I finished Zoe's top out of the soya cotton - it came out so cute! I put these great butterfly buttons on the straps and they definitely make the top. I am so excited that it is supposed to get very warm at the end of this week - maybe I can put her in one of the cute summer dresses/ skirts I've made her. She is getting so funny...so verbal - it is amazing. She is starting to say three words at a time and talk in the first person. The other morning while eating breakfast I put something on her fork and started to feed her and she grabbed the fork out of my hand and said "No! I do it!" And now when she wants some thing it's no longer "want it" it is a very definite "I want it!" My babysitter also told me that she dropped something the other day and said "damn it!" - something to be proud of, huh? I guess I'd better watch my mouth - especially since Max said "F - it!" the other day. Oy. This weekend Zoe got her first haircut. She really doesn't have much in the way of hair - but people kept telling me that if I got it cut it would grow back faster. I really was loathe to cut it - it is hard to get rid of any hair when there is so little - but I really want to put her hair in pigtails someday so I figured I'd try the haircut. She was really good and was so happy when afterwards she got two lollipops! She was so cute riding in the backpack on Jeff's back with a yellow lollipop in one hand and an orange one in the other. Jeff especially loved it when she rubbed the lollies in his hair and on his neck! The sad thing though is that it was such a non-event. When Max got his first haircut I brought a camera took lots of pictures....with Zoe, no camera, no big deal. But we do have a lock of her hair to save. Jeff thought the haircutter was crazy when she gave me the lock of hair. I told him that they give us a certificate with the date of her first haircut and we can keep it forever! He was puzzled aas to why we might want to do that. I told him that I had Max's hair - and I even knew where it was. Jeff went from puzzled to amazed and dropped the questions of why we might want the hair. And Max enjoyed looking at his hair when we got home. Next week we go to Disney! We are flying on American, on an M80. Needless to say that last week I was freaking out that we might not be going - but they say all is back to normal - we'll see. But now Julie's son has a 103 fever - a virus - right in time to give it to Olivia. And to Zoe - who was feeding herself and him Pirate Booty yesterday. Last year Olivia got strep throat while we were at Disney. She puked on Max on the bus to Animal Kingdom. Then Max got strepon the way home and puked all over the cab a block away from our house. Ah - memories. Everyone should keep their fingers crossed that we have two healthy children next Tuesday!

Eat at Telepan!

2008-04-02T11:27:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it is already April. Almost time to wear all of our great new tank tops and tee shirts. Mercedes just finished this fantastic new tank top out of a new yarn by Berocco called Seduce. http://www.theyarnco.com/doSearch.php?search=0&key=seduce&x=10&y=4 It is light and falls really nicely. The pattern is from the Norah Gaughan Berocco book - it is #5 - called flow...a very appropriate name. There are one or two other cute things in the pattern book and a few not so cute ones - but I suppose that is par for the course. So, I gave up on Zoe's dress. The three row pattern was killing me. I will just knit the same style dress with 2 or 4 row stripes. I figure, why make life any more difficult than it has to be?! Instead of starting on the dress right away - I just wasn't prepared to rip what I had already done at the moment - I started to knit a little smock tank top out of Sublime's Soya. I love the soya yarn. It is really nice to work with - and has a wonderful hand. I'll tell you though, 11 years ago when Julie and I bought the store I never would have imagined that I would be knitting with soy and bamboo and organic cottons. If someone had told me I'd be making a sweater with made out of soy I'd have told them they were nutty. Now I have some non-knitting related items: First, Julie and I are taking Max and Olivia(our 5 year olds) to Disneyworld in 3 weeks. If anybody has any tips, suggestions or warnings - let us know! Saturday, Jeff and I went to the Max's school auction. It was fun - a lot of good items to be had. We won a movie and lunch for max with his teacher, Cara. There was actually a bidding war for her in the silent auction, two other parents and I stood at the sheet and kept raising the bid - we finally came to an agreement that Cara would take them all and we'd all pay up. If we hadn't done that it could have gotten ugly as to who would write down the last bid before the items closed. Max was so excited when we told him - he is totally in love with her - it is very cute. We were also hoping to win a live auction item - Bill Telepan ( a parent at Max's school who owns the excellent restaurant Telepan) - offered to cook dinner for 8 in someone's home, wine included. We had a good budget (or so we thought) - but it went for $7200!!! Then he offered to do it a 2nd time if someone else would match that bid - and it was immediately matched. Then he offered it up a 3rd time - and again - snatched up for a mere $7200!! We go to public school!!!! Crazy. But very generous of Bill Telepan - so if anyone needs a great restaurant to go to (I've been several times and greatly enjoyed it) I would highly reccomend Telepan - you will have an excellent meal and at he same time support a very nice and generous person! Good Karma. Finally, a question. What is wrong with some people? Julie and I took a pilates class this morning and as we were leaving a yoga class was coming in. Julie was sitting on the ground putting her shoes on and a woman literally began to put her mat down on top of Julie's feet. She could have put her mat down anywhere else in the room (maybe 2 other people had come in for the yoga class already) - but she chose to put it down right on top of Julie. Okay - maybe this was her favorite spot in the class (not three inches to the left or to the right) - but she could have waited until Julie got up. This is still bothering me four hours later - I probably should have said something at the time but I held my tongue - so now I ask - what is wrong with some people???? Yoga / Karma / Do unto others...???? Bill Telepan she was not!

HIGH FLYING FUN

2008-03-26T11:17:00.000-07:00

On Friday we took Max and some of his friends to go flying on the flying trapeeze. It was so much fun! We did it at the NYC trapeze school, http://newyork.trapezeschool.com/ - it used to be located on the river and was outdoors - but for the winter they moved it to 30th between 10th and 11th - it's in this cool bubble. Max and I have done it before - and he totally loves it and has no fear. He just climbs right up the ladder and off he goes. It really is a great thrill, my heart beats so hard as I climb up the ladder and as I reach out for the bar - but once I start flying it is awesome. I even got caught. (that means I flew through the air, got my knees latched onto the bar, let my hands go and someone on another bar reached out and grabbed me!) I video taped it all - I will have to try to put some video up so everybody can see Max's bravery and my high flying skills (I am working on figuring out how to get my video onto discs and onto you tube.) But in the meantime, just to get a taste, check out Max's friend Henry, he is 6! http://youtube.com/watch?v=22Conbj3r0o Not so much to report on the knitting front. I am still working- very slowly- on my dress. You can kinda see a picture of it - it is the 2nd one in - the girl wearing the boots - http://www.rebecca-online.de/cont_en/heft_archiv/heft_36/seite_08.php. But it is very slow going - I must get up to nearly 400 stitches after row 5. Maybe it will be ready for next summer. It is not a knitting project that I want any of my customers doing!! I also began yet another dress for Zoe from the new Ella Rae book. I am doing it out of Tika yarn, http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/432, in navy, green and white. I had a hard time deciding between that color combo and the red/orange/tan. It is a great yarn, I love knitting with it. It is super soft. The pattern itself is a little wierd - it is a 3 row repeat which is a real pain in the butt because that means you cannot carry the yarn up - but have to cut each time. I am going to have a lot of ends to weave in.

GOT THE PICTURES ON!!!

2008-03-19T09:48:00.001-07:00

I (well really Julie) figured out how to get the pictures on - so check out my little girl in her Samba Dress and her new Tiger skirt. Now that I know how to get pictures on look forward to lots of them - I've been trying to convince Max to let me take pictures of him in all his sweaters and cuddled up in his new blanket. We'l see - I might have to think of a good bribe...

Am I nuts?

2008-03-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

I finally finished Zoe's skirt this weekend. All I've had to do for weeks was the i-cord - but it was just so boring. But I did it and sewed it together and I must say the skirt is adorable. The pattern is from Barefoot Knits - with some tweaks (like the boring i-cord) by me. I made the skirt in orange and brown cotton classic http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/14, it looks a little tiger-like - I might have chosen other colors if I had to do it again - but I don't - so orange and brown are good. I need a cute brown top to go with it for the summer - brown is a hard color to find for a little girl though. I took some pictures which I will post soon. (I am having trouble with the pictures - what is the best way to get them on?) I basically tortured Zoe the other morning, dressing her up and trying to get her to stand still for a million pictures. I got some cute ones - although the photo session did end in tears. I am still working on her cream sweater in the Mayra http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/414 - just one sleeve to go. However, I've gotten a little side tracked...I decided to knit a dress from the new Rebecca book for myself. I think I might have lost my mind. I cast on 242 stitches for the skirt part - and everyother row I do yarn overs and increase a gazillion stitches until on row 7 I finally do some knitting 2 together. I haven't actually counted how many stitches I get up to - but this morning it took me a whole episode of In Treatment to do my row with the most stitches. I'll be done with the dress by next summer and then it probably wont even fit well. For some reason though I really want to make it. I am making it in a new yarn we just got - GGH Leona - it is half cotton and half acrylic - but very light and drapey and I think it will be excellent for the dress. I chose a nice navy that I'll wear with my corkies. Let's see how long it takes for me to become disenchanted with this project!

SOLITUDE

2008-03-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just got back late last night from a fantastic weekend of skiing! We (Max, Jeff & I - we left poor Zoe home) went to Solitude mountain in Utah and it was really great. Max went to ski school and was going down steep blue trails and riding chairlifts by himself by the end of the weekend. And at Solitude some of the chairlifts don't have bars that come down - it freaked me out a little - having Max on such a lift without an adult - but I was brave. The only time I almost vomited though was when Max and Jeff went up a really long lift with no bar and I was sitting behind them watching Jeff on his Blackberry and Max squirming a bit. My heart was in my throat. But on a better note - we had fantastic weather - it snowed the first day and was beautiful and sunny the next two days. And I skiied like a champ! I went down double black diamond trails, through trees, down steep stuff with bumps and I am here to tell about it. It really was a nice mountain - not too crowded, lots of terrain, good ski school - I would highly reccommend it! And flying to Salt Lake City is soooo easy. Really, the trip is almost the same as going to Vermont and the skiing is a million times better. On the plane I worked on knitting a cardigan for Zoe out of the Gedifra Mayra yarn. It has a cute lace bottom that I stole from one of the Sublime books and then it is just a plain drop sleeve cardigan, in off white. It will be perfect for the spring. I also started reading Eat, Pray Love - a book I've been avoiding because everyone has said I wouldn't like it, given my lack of any sort of spirituality and my love of long, engrossing novels - but I actually really like it so far - Elizabeth Gilbert is a great writer - very funny and wonderfully descriptive. And I even got to watch a movie while I was knitting on the way home. I watched Gone Baby Gone. Disturbing, but I liked it a lot. So, all in all the weekend was a sucess. But it is always nice to come home. Also - check out the post above - I put some pictures on of Zoe in her new dress that I made out of Katia Samba. http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/421

Bad Bloggers

2008-03-04T10:50:00.000-08:00

So, we haven't blogged in a month. Bad Bloggers! I am making a new commitment - to blog at least once, if not twice a week from now on - so those of you out there that are actually reading this - so sorry. In the past month things have been a bit hectic around here. We've gotten almost all of our new spring/summer yarns. We have a ton of great stuff - you should definitely check out our website - www.theyarnco.com. Getting it all out on the shelves and onto the website takes up a bunch of time - but it is here, it is on the site and now we just have to knit up samples. We've got some beautiful linens and linen blends (my personal favorites during the summer months) - and just so many great colors. Another new favorite of mine is the summer sublime line of yarn. There is an organic cotton that is to die for and a soy and cotton blend that I am planning to use to make Zoe a jacket that is in one of the new Sublime books. On another note, part of the reason I've been so remiss here is because I was on vacation. We went to Jamaica for a week. The weather was great - but as all of you with young children know - when you go away with your kids, you cannot really call it a vacation - more like a change of venue. All of us in one room - with Zoe waking up at 5:30 am was a little tiring. But she thouroughly enjoyed running around the lobby of the Ritz Carlton in her PJs at 5:45am, flirting with all the employees as they arrived for work. And we weren't the only ones in the lobby - so she had many other early morning playmates. A word of caution to anyone out there planning a family vacation - I would steer clear of the Ritz Carlton in Jamaica. While it is a perfectly fine place - the kid's club is basically non-existant and the food is TERRIBLE. We did end up getting Max this lifegaurd/babysitter with two other 5 year old boys - and he took them out on a Hobie Cat and played soccer and basketball with them and swam with them - so it all worked out - Max had a great time...we've just had better luck at Club Med. Max also fell in love with Reggae down there and is into Bob Marley now - it is very cute. Tune in soon. I will be back - and maybe Julie will be too....

Spring Yarns

2008-02-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

It was pouring rain in NYC on Friday. It certainly did not feel like spring was on its way! On my way to pick Max up from school I decided to stop by the store (even though it was my day off) and dry off a little. When I stepped inside, I stepped into spring. There was lots of yarn all over the floor, in the process of being unpacked, checked in and stocked. It did look a little messy and I was happy it was Friday not Tuesday (Julie's day off) -- but it also looked beautiful. So many bright colors in great fibers...I just wanted to stay and admire them all day. We got Rowan Summer Tweed in - this is one of my favorite spring yarns --perfect for a transitional sweater. We also got Millefili Fine and Porto Cervo, two basic cottons that we carry every year. Then we also got a bunch of new yarns - Desert Flower and Sonora from Nashua - Desert Flower is a cotton/linen blend and comes in subtle multicolors. It is sure to have great drape. Sonora is silk, linen and viscose. It has a crimp to the yarn and comes in muted colors. Each colorway has a color and then a taupe color twisted together. Very pretty. From Gedifra we got Mayra, which is mostly cotton and a little poly. It is very soft and comes in great colors. We also got Ayala which is viscose, poly and linen. The yarn has a slight shimmer from the poly - that dresses it up a little. We also got two great new yarns from Skacel --Fashion Silk - which is mostly silk and a bit of poly and is about 3.5 stitches to the inch. It comes in very rich colors. And Soja Bama a soy and bamboo blend. It has a nice drape and great colors. All of these yarns will be on the website as soon as Julie can get them up. (She is in charge of the website) I can't wait to start knitting with them - but first I have to finish Max's blanket. I think I have about forty inches - so I'm almost there. But actually, I am going to Jamaica next week and think I will choose a great spring project to take with me as I cannot schlep the blanket!

Driving in my car...

2008-01-29T11:32:00.001-08:00

First, I want to say that it is very exciting to see that we have at least one person following our blog! Glad you found it and we will be sure to ask you any technical queries that come up! Next, I don't know what we were thinking doing this blog thing…if we don't have time to knit, how do we have time to blog???? But anyway --this past weekend we (Jordana, Jeff, Max & Zoe) went up to Stratton, VT. I was very excited to have four hours of driving time – which in my fantasy world equated to four hours of knitting time. I was all set to start a new blanket for Max, which he requested since his baby blanket that I made him is too small. I picked out some nice navy Tiramisu yarn, http://www.theyarnco.com/brand_display/335, which I planned to double on a #15 needle and garter for 56 inches-- then put a grey and red border on later. Perfect car knitting! Perfect that is if you actually get to knit in the car. We picked Max up from school at around 3pm, right after Zoe's nap. I popped a Dora DVD in and thought we were good to go. Zoe, however, while she loves Dora, hates the car. And she began moaning and crying virtually immediately. Max then began whining that he couldn't hear – and that he didn't want to put headphones on so that he could hear. So, needless to say, peaceful knitting was out of the question. I then climbed into the back and tried to soothe Zoe with some crackers and other snack foods. After about an hour and a half, as she was demanding more crackers and I was looking for them, she decided it would be a good time to vomit. And so the drive went…we then watched a Goodnight Gorilla DVD about a hundred times (which Max was a pretty good sport about) until we finally got to the pizza place in Lebanon NY where we were supposed to meet our friends – who it turned out were still about twenty minutes behind us because the had a yacker in their car too. So, we sat down at the pizza place and ordered. Max then announced that he was not going to eat until his friend Isa got there – to which I very nicely replied that I did not care if he ever ate again. But Isa did come and Max did eat and the rest of the drive up to Stratton was fairly peaceful with two sleeping children. So I knit for maybe 45 minutes. Then, both woke up as soon as we stopped the car when we arrived at Stratton. Max went right back to sleep but Zoe was up until almost one and would not let me take my hand off her all night – much less actually put her in the pack and play. The rest of the weekend was great though– Max went to ski school. He skied down a black diamond (he is 5) – and I knit a bit while Zoe napped and then skied on Sunday. Both children slept almost the entire ride home and transferred successfully. I didn't get much of the blanket done – but I did get a new knitting project to do since Max lost his hat that I just made him. And – I'll probably get to make the hat today as I stand on line for two hours outside his school so I can sign him up for the after-school activities he wants to take! (That is trying to put a positive spin on things).

2008-01-24T13:44:00.001-08:00

Since our venture to Secaucus, not too much has happened. We did get a nice new yarn in called Cotanani. It is a blend of pima cotton and merino wool and it comes in beautiful colors. I am also trying to get some knitting done. We have a lot of customers who are perfectionists. If they are knitting a striped garment, all the colors have to coordinate just so. If they start a project that they don't like, they stop. Me, on the other hand, once I start a project, I rarely stop. I am lazy and part of the fun of knitting for me is to finish things, so abandoning a project or restarting one is just too upsetting for me. Well, I began knitting a log cabin blanket for a friend's baby (see picture at bottom) and I really did not like the colors. I was close to telling myself it would be fine in the end, but this time I did not take the lazy approach. I chose new colors and re-started and it looks so much better. I also have to get going on knitting 3 scarves for my daughter's Pre-K teachers. I was too busy at holiday time to knit them gifts so they will get Valentine's Day scarves.

2008-01-19T12:22:00.000-08:00

We went to AC Moore in Secaucus this morning to do a Yarn Girls' book signing. Julie and I had never been to a giant craft store like that before. While the signing itself was pretty uneventful - we signed maybe 6 books- going to AC Moore was fun. They have a crazy selection of crafting items. Pans in all shapes for baking cakes, lots of fun ribbon, stickers galore, beads, rug hooking and oh so much more. Their yarn selection was not anything to talk about - but it is a place to send people looking for less expensive acrylic yarns. Before we left we did do a little shopping ---Julie bought a ladybug rug hooking kit and a giant pad of paper for her daughter Olivia and I (Jordana) bought some stuff to make my son Max a Pez dispenser display (I saw it in Cookie magazine). Since we weren't to busy signing books, we did get to sit and do a bit of knitting. I am knitting this adorable ruffle skirt out of Cotton Classic for my daughter Zoe. The pattern is from the book Barefoot Knits by Christine Schwender and Paula Heist. It is a great book with such cute patterns for little girls. I actually made one already that was too small for Zoe - so we'll just use it as a sample in the store. I think the authors of the book did not account for the fact that two-year olds wear diapers and that makes their bottoms pretty big. No worries though, it's always good to have a store sample. Hopefully we'll post it on our website soon. And stay tuned here for a picture of Zoe in it once I finish. I think I will make her a matching halter top also. I must say, although Max is fun to knit for and super appreciative -I love having a little girl to knit for!

Our First Blog

2008-01-18T11:38:00.000-08:00

The cold rain scared away our customers yesterday afternoon at our store, The Yarn Company. So, Julie decided to try and figure out how to create a blog. This is something that we have been thinking about for a while now, but had no idea how to do. In fact, just several months ago, Jordana didn't even know what a blog was! However, with a little internet research and minimal technical knowledge, Julie has brought us and our store into this new universe. It is funny, when we bought The Yarn Company ten and a half years ago, we were the youngest yarn store owners in the country. Now, we're just two thirty something women (almost forty – egad!) with two kids a piece, who are just trying to keep up with technology in a business that we once thought was all about tactility. We've come to realize, however, that technology and keeping up with it are important even in the realm of yarn and knitting. Our website (www.theyarnco.com) allows us to reach customers who would never have stepped through our doors, from all over the country and even in different countries. It allows our customers to browse our yarns and designs even when we are home playing with our children or out with our husbands. Other "how to" sites make it possible for panicked knitters to find the answers to their questions even when their local yarn store has shut down for the night. And You Tube lets knitters learn new techniques from the videos of fellow knitters. So now we have a blog. Now we can share our excitement over new yarns and new designs with everybody on a daily basis. Now we can let everybody know what's new with the Yarn Girls and the Yarn Company blow by blow. And maybe somebody can help us figure out the answer to our most pressing question of the moment: How do you run a retail business, take care of two young children and a husband, keep your house clean (or at least not dirty) get the laundry done and still have time to knit??? We look forward to blogging. Julie & Jordana